Specific Heat of Mg 11 B 2 , a Two-Gap Superconductor

We report measurements of the specific heat of Mg 11 B 2 , from 1 to 50 K and in magnetic fields to 9 T, and give the values of parameters relevant to the superconductivity. The superconducting-state electron contribution is dramatically different from that of other superconductors, but the general features are consistent with predictions for a two-gap superconductor, and it can be quantitatively represented by a two-gap model based on BCS thermodynamics. Parameters characterizing the gaps are in good agreement with some spectroscopic determinations, and also with theoretical calculations. An unusually strong magnetic field dependence of the temperature-proportional term in the electron contribution to the vortex-state specific heat is evidently another manifestation of the two gaps.