Indications of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point in $$\textrm{SmN}_{1-\delta }$$ SmN 1 - δ

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the previously observed superconductivity in ferromagnetic SmN in the context of the breakdown of order between two magnetic phases. Nitrogen vacancy doped SmN $$_{1-\delta }$$ 1 - δ is a semiconductor which lies in the intermediary between ferromagnetic SmN and anti-ferromagnetic Sm. Optical data reported here corroborate the prediction that electrical transport is mediated by Sm 4f defect states, and electrical transport measurements characterise the metal-insulator transition over the doping range. Our measurements show that the superconducting state in nitrogen vacancy doped $$\textrm{SmN}_{1-\delta }$$ SmN 1 - δ is the most robust near the breakdown of magnetic order, and indicate the location of a quantum critical point. Furthermore we provide additional evidence that the superconducting state is formed from majority spin electrons and thus of unconventional S = 1 type.