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Register a new userSuperconductivity induced by Mg deficiency in non-centrosymmetric phosphide Mg$_2$Rh$_3$P
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The search for non-centrosymmetric superconductors that may exhibit unusual physical properties and unconventional superconductivity has yielded the synthesis of a non-centrosymmetric phosphide Mg$_2$Rh$_3$P with an Al$_2$Mo$_3$C-type structure. Although stoichiometric Mg$_2$Rh$_3$P does not exhibit superconductivity at temperatures above 2 K, we found that an Mg deficiency of approximately 5 at.% in the Mg$_2$Rh$_3$P induced superconductivity at 3.9 K. Physical properties such as the lattice parameter a = 0.70881 nm, Sommerfeld constant $gamma_n$ = 5.36 mJ mol$^{-1}$ K$^{-2}$, specific heat jump $Delta$C$_{el}$/$gamma_n$Tc = 0.72, electron-phonon coupling constant $lambda$$_{e-p}$ = 0.58, upper critical field H$_{c2}$(0) = 24.3 kOe, and pressure effect dTc/dP = -0.34 K/GPa were measured for the superconducting Mg$_{2-delta}$Rh$_3$P ($delta$ $sim$ 0.1). Band-structure calculations indicate that exotic fermions, which are not present in high-energy physics, exist in Mg$_2$Rh$_3$P. Since Mg, Rh, and P are the first elements used at each crystal site of Al$_2$Mo$_3$C-type compounds, the discovery of Mg$_2$Rh$_3$P may guide the search for new related materials.
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In this study, we succeeded in synthesizing new antiperovskite phosphides $M$Pd$_3$P ($M$ = Ca, Sr, Ba) and discovered the appearance of a superconducting phase (0.17 $leq$ $x$ $leq$ 0.55) in a solid solution (Ca$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$)Pd$_3$P. Three perovskite-related crystal structures were identified in (Ca$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$)Pd$_3$P and a phase diagram was built on the basis of experimental results. The first phase transition from centrosymmetric ($Pnma$) to non-centrosymmetric orthorhombic ($Aba$2) occurred in CaPd$_3$P near room temperature. The phase transition temperature decreased as Ca$^{2+}$ was replaced with a larger-sized isovalent Sr$^{2+}$. Bulk superconductivity at a critical temperature ($T$$_c$) of approximately 3.5 K was observed in a range of $x$ = 0.17 - 0.55; this was associated with the centrosymmetric orthorhombic phase. Thereafter, a non-centrosymmetric tetragonal phase ($I$41$md$) remained stable for 0.6 $leq$ $x$ $leq$ 1.0, and superconductivity was significantly suppressed as samples with $x$ = 0.75 and 1.0 showed ($T$$_c$) values as low as 0.32 K and 57 mK, respectively. For further substitution with a larger-sized isovalent Ba$^{2+}$, namely (Sr$_{1-y}$Ba$_y$)Pd$_3$P, the tetragonal phase continued throughout the composition range. BaPd$_3$P no longer showed superconductivity down to 20 mK. Since the inversion symmetry of structure and superconductivity can be precisely controlled in (Ca$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$)Pd$_3$P, this material may offer a unique opportunity to study the relationship between inversion symmetry and superconductivity.
In the recently discovered antiperovskite phosphide (Ca,Sr)Pd$_3$P, centrosymmetric (CS) and non-centrosymmetric (NCS) superconducting phases appear depending on the Sr concentration, and their transition temperatures ($T_mathrm{c}$) differ by as much as one order of magnitude. In this study, we investigated the superconducting properties and electronic band structures of CS orthorhombic (CSo) (Ca$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.4}$)Pd$_3$P ($T_mathrm{c}$ = 3.5 K) and NCS tetragonal (NCSt) (Ca$_{0.25}$Sr$_{0.75}$)Pd$_3$P ($T_mathrm{c}$ = 0.32 K) samples with a focus on explaining their large $T_mathrm{c}$ difference. Specific heat measurements indicated that CSo (Ca$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.4}$)Pd$_3$P was an s-wave superconductor in a moderate-coupling regime with a 2$Delta$$_0$/k$_B$$T_mathrm{c}$ value of 4.0. Low-lying phonons leading to the strong coupling in the structurally analogous SrPt$_3$P were unlikely to be present in CSo (Ca$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.4}$)Pd$_3$P. Given that CSo (Ca$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.4}$)Pd$_3$P and NCSt (Ca$_{0.25}$Sr$_{0.75}$)Pd$_3$P exhibited similar Debye temperatures ($Theta$$_D$) of approximately 200 K, the large $T_mathrm{c}$ difference could not be attributed to $Theta$$_D$.$T_mathrm{c}$ of each phase was accurately reproduced based on the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory using experimental data and the density of states of the Fermi level $N$(0) calculated from their band structures. We concluded that the considerable suppression of $T_mathrm{c}$ in NCSt (Ca$_{0.25}$Sr$_{0.75}$)Pd$_3$P can be primarily attributed to the decrease in $N$(0) associated with the structural phase transition without considering the lack of inversion symmetry.
We synthesized Sr-doped $La_{0.85}Sr_{0.15}OFeAs$ sample with single phase, and systematically studied the effect of oxygen deficiency in the Sr-doped LaOFeAs system. It is found that substitution of Sr for La indeed induces the hole carrier evidenced by positive thermoelectric power (TEP), but no bulk superconductivity is observed. The superconductivity can be realized by annealing the as-grown sample in vacuum to produce the oxygen deficiency. With increasing the oxygen deficiency, the superconducting transition temperature ($T_c$) increases and maximum $T_c$ reaches about 26 K the same as that in La(O,F)FeAs. TEP dramatically changes from positive to negative in the nonsuperconducting as-grown sample to the superconducting samples with oxygen deficiency. While $R_H$ is always negative for all samples (even for Sr-doped as grown sample). It suggests that the $La_{0.85}Sr_{0.15}O_{1-delta}FeAs$ is still electron-type superconductor.
We study the superconducting properties of the non-centrosymmetric compound LaNiC$_2$ by measuring the London penetration depth $Delta lambda (T)$, the specific heat $C(T,B)$ and the electrical resistivity $rho (T,B)$. Both $Deltalambda (T)$ and the electronic specific heat $C_e(T)$ exhibit exponential behavior at low temperatures and can be described in terms of a phenomenological two-gap BCS model. The residual Sommerfeld coefficient in the superconducting state, $gamma_0(B)$, shows a fast increase at low fields and then an eventual saturation with increasing magnetic field. A pronounced upturn curvature is observed in the upper critical field $B_{c2}(T)$ near $T_{c}$. All the experimental observations support the existence of two-gap superconductivity in LaNiC$_2$.
In a superconductor that lacks inversion symmetry, the spatial part of the Cooper pair wave function has a reduced symmetry, allowing for the mixing of spin-singlet and spin-triplet Cooper pairing channels and thus providing a pathway to a non-trivial superconducting state. Materials with a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure and with strong spin-orbit coupling are a platform to realize these possibilities. Here, we report the synthesis and characterisation of high quality crystals of Sn$_4$As$_3$, with non-centrosymmetric unit cell ($R3m$). We have characterised the normal and superconducting state using a range of methods. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy shows a multiband Fermi surface and the presence of two surface states, confirmed by Density-functional theory calculations. Specific heat measurements reveal a superconducting critical temperature of $T_csim 1.14$ K and an upper critical magnetic field of $H_cgtrsim 7$ mT, which are both confirmed by ultra-low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy shows a fully formed superconducting gap, consistent with conventional $s$-wave superconductivity.
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