Impurity scattering effects on the low-temperature specific heat of d-wave superconductors

Very recently impurity scattering effects on quasiparticles in d-wave superconductors have attracted much attention. Especially, the thermodynamic properties in magnetic fields H are of interest. We have measured the low-temperature specific heat C(T,H) of La_1.78Sr_0.22Cu_1-xNi_xO4. For the first time, the impurity scattering effects on C(T,H) of cuprate superconductors were clearly observed, and are compared with theory of d-wave superconductivity. It is found that impurity scattering leads to gamma(H)=gamma(0)(1+D((H/H_c2)(ln(H_c2/H)) in small magnetic fields. Most amazingly, the scaling of C(T,H) breaks down due to impurity scattering.