An investigation of type-I superconductivity in single crystal of Pb2Pd


Abstract in English

We have investigated the superconducting properties in a single crystal of a new superconductor Pb$_{2}$Pd via various techniques including magnetization, AC transport, transverse field muon spin rotation and relaxation (TF-$mu$SR), and heat capacity. Pb$_{2}$Pd crystallizes in a body-centred tetragonal structure with space group I4/$mcm$. All measurements confirm the superconducting transition temperature, T$_{C}$ = 3.0 $pm$ 0.1 K. Electronic specific heat data are well described by the BCS fitting, suggesting that Pb$_{2}$Pd opens an isotropic gap on entering the superconducting state. The specific heat jump and $lambda_{e-ph}$ value categorize Pb$_{2}$Pd as a moderately coupled superconductor. Magnetization and transverse field muon spin rotation measurements along with Ginzburg-Landau parameter, $kappa$ < 1/$sqrt{2}$ strongly infers that Pb$_{2}$Pd is a type I superconductor.

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