Magneto-optical imaging of exotic superconductors

We have constructed a novel compact cryostat for optical measurements at temperatures below 2 K. The desktop cryostat, small enough to be placed under the objective of a standard commercial polarized light microscope, functions in a single shot mode, with a five hour autonomy at 1.5 K. Central to its conception are four charcoal pumps for adsorption and desorption of He contained in a closed circuit, and novel thermal switches allowing for thermalization of the pumps and of the two 1 K pots. The latter are connected to the 1" diameter sample holder through braids. Sample access is immediate, through the simple removal of the optical windows. In this contribution, we shall present first results on magneto-optical imaging of flux penetration in the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn₅.