No Arabic abstract
Superconductivity was first observed more than a century ago, but the search for new superconducting materials remains a challenge. The Cooper pairs in superconductors are ideal embodiments of quantum entanglement. Thus, novel superconductors can be critical for both learning about electronic systems in condensed matter and for possible application in future quantum technologies. Here two previously unreported materials, NbIr$_2$B$_2$ and TaIr$_2$B$_2$, are presented with superconducting transitions at 7.2 and 5.2 K, respectively. They display a unique noncentrosymmetric crystal structure, and for both compounds the magnetic field that destroys the superconductivity at 0 K exceeds one of the fundamental characteristics of conventional superconductors (the Pauli limit), suggesting that the superconductivity may be unconventional. Supporting this experimentally based deduction, first-principle calculations show a spin split Fermi surface due to the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling. These materials may thus provide an excellent platform for the study of non-BCS superconductivity in intermetallic compounds.
We review the properties of Ni-based superconductors which contain Ni2X2 (X=As, P, Bi, Si, Ge, B) planes, a common structural element found also in the recently discovered FeAs superconductors. Strong evidence for the fully gapped nature of the superconducting state has come from field dependent thermal conductivity results on BaNi2As2. Coupled with the lack of magnetism, the majority of evidence suggests that the Ni-based compounds are conventional electron-phonon mediated superconductors. However, the increase in Tc in LaNiAsO with doping is anomalous, and mimics the behavior in LaFeAsO. Furthermore, comparisons of the properties of Ni- and Fe-based systems show many similarities, particularly with regards to structure-property relationships. This suggests a deeper connection between the physics of the FeAs superconductors and the related Ni-based systems which deserves further investigation.
Recent discovery of superconductivity in CeRh$_2$As$_2$ clarified an unusual $H$-$T$ phase diagram with two superconducting phases [Khim et al. arXiv:2101.09522]. The experimental observation has been interpreted based on the even-odd parity transition characteristic of locally noncentrosymmetric superconductors. Indeed, the inversion symmetry is locally broken at the Ce site, and CeRh$_2$As$_2$ molds a new class of exotic superconductors. The low-temperature and high-field superconducting phase is a candidate for the odd-parity pair-density-wave state, suggesting a possibility of topological superconductivity as spin-triplet superconductors are. In this paper, we first derive the formula expressing the $mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant of glide symmetric and time-reversal symmetry broken superconductors by the number of Fermi surfaces on a glide invariant line. Next, we conduct a first-principles calculation for the electronic structure of CeRh$_2$As$_2$. Combining the results, we show that the field-induced odd-parity superconducting phase of CeRh$_2$As$_2$ is a platform of topological crystalline superconductivity protected by the nonsymmorphic glide symmetry and accompanied by boundary Majorana fermions.
Coupling between $sigma$-bonding electrons and phonons is generally very strong. To metallize $sigma$-electrons provides a promising route to hunt for new high-T$_c$ superconductors. Based on this picture and first-principles density functional calculation with Wannier interpolation for electronic structure and lattice dynamics, we predict that trilayer film LiB$_2$C$_2$ is a good candidate to realize this kind of high-T$_c$ superconductivity. By solving the anisotropic Eliashberg equations, we find that free-standing trilayer LiB$_2$C$_2$ is a phonon-mediated superconductor with T$_c$ exceeding the liquid-nitrogen temperature at ambient pressure. The transition temperature can be further raised to 125 K by applying a biaxial tensile strain.
We investigated the superconducting state of the noncentrosymmetric superconductors Li$_2$Pd$_x$Pt$_{3-x}$B with superconducting transition temperature $T_c$= 5.16(8) K ($x$=2.25), 3.56(8) K ($x=1.5$) and 2.60 K ($x=0$) by means of muon-spin rotation ($mu$SR) and specific heat experiments. The $mu$SR relaxation rate $sigma_{sc}$ was found to be constant at low temperatures for all the compounds. Data taken at different magnetic fields show that the magnetic penetration depth $lambda$ is field-independent for Li$_2$Pd$_{2.25}$Pt$_{0.75}$B and Li$_2$Pt$_{3}$B. The electronic contribution to the specific heat measured in Li$_2$Pd$_{1.5}$Pt$_{1.5}$B and Li$_2$Pt$_{3}$B increases exponentially at the lowest temperatures. These features suggest that the {it whole family} of Li$_2$Pd$_x$Pt$_{3-x}$B are single-gap s-wave superconductors across the entire doping regime.
The local structures of 122-type paradium arsenides, namely BaPd$_2$As$_2$ and SrPd$_2$As$_2$, are examined by As K-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure measurements to find a possible correlation between the variation of their superconducting transition temperature and the local structure. The local atomic distances are found to be consistent with average distances measured by diffraction techniques. The temperature dependence of mean square relative displacements reveal that, while BaPd$_2$As$_2$ is characterized by a local As-Pd soft mode, albeit with larger atomic disorder, SrPd$_2$As$_2$ shows anomalous As-Pd correlations with a kink at $sim$160 K due to hardening by raising temperature. We have discussed implications of these results and possible mechanism of differing superconducting transition temperature in relation with the structural instability.