In this chapter we discuss the physical properties of a particular family of non-centrosymmetric superconductors belonging to the class heavy-fermion compounds. This group includes the ferromagnet UIr and the antiferromagnets CeRhSi 3 , CeIrSi 3 , CeCoGe 3 , CeIrGe 3 and CePt 3 Si, of which all but CePt 3 Si become superconducting only under pressure. Each of these superconductors has intriguing and interesting properties. We first analyze CePt 3 Si, then review CeRhSi 3 , CeIrSi 3 , CeCoGe 3 and CeIrGe 3 , which are very similar to each other in their magnetic and electrical properties, and finally discuss UIr. For each material we discuss the crystal structure, magnetic order, occurrence of superconductivity, phase diagram, characteristic parameters, superconducting properties and pairing states. We present an overview of the similarities and differences between all these six compounds at the end.
CePt 3 SiThe enormous interest in superconductors without inversion symmetry started with the discovery of superconductivity in the heavy-fermion compound CePt 3 Si [1], which exhibits long-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) order below the Neel temperature T N = 2.2 K and becomes superconducting at the critical temperature T c = 0.75 K. CePt 3 Si is the only known heavy-fermion (HF) compound without inversion symmetry that superconducts at ambient pressure, as opposed to the cases of CeIrSi 3 , CeRhSi 3 , CeCoGe 3 , CeIrGe 3 and UIr. The heavy-fermion character has