No Arabic abstract
Orthorhombic (space group: Pnma) Nb2P5 is a high-pressure phase that is quenchable to ambient pressure, which could viewed as the zigzag infinite P chain-inserted NbP2. We report herein the high-pressure crystal growth of Nb2P5 and the discovery of its superconducting transition at Tc ~ 2.6 K. The electrical resistivity, magnetization, and specific heat capacity measurements on the high-quality crystal unveiled a conventional type-II weakly coupled s-wave nature of the superconductivity, with the upper critical field Hc2(0) ~ 0.5 T, the electron-phonon coupling strength {lambda}ep ~ 0.5 - 0.8, and the Ginzburg-Landau parameter k{appa} ~ 100. The ab initio calculations on the electronic band structure unveiled nodal-line structures protected by different symmetries. The one caused by band inversion, for example, on the {Gamma}-X and U-R paths of the Brillouin zone, likely could bring nontrivial topology and hence possible nontrivial surface state on the surface. The surface states on the (100), (010) and (110) surfaces were also calculated and discussed. The discovery of the phosphorus-rich Nb2P5 superconductor would be instructive for the design of more metal phosphides superconductors which might host unconventional superconductivity or potential technical applications.
We report comprehensive study of physical properties of the binary superconductor compound SnAs. The electronic band structure of SnAs was investigated using both angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) in a wide binding energy range and density functional theory (DFT) within generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The DFT/GGA calculations were done including spin-orbit coupling for both bulk and (111) slab crystal structures. Comparison of the DFT/GGA band dispersions with ARPES data shows that (111) slab much better describes ARPES data than just bulk bands. Superconducting properties of SnAs were studied experimentally by specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, magnetotransport measurements and Andreev reflection spectroscopy. Temperature dependences of the superconducting gap and of the specific heat were found to be well consistent with those expected for the single band BCS superconductors with an isotropic s-wave order parameter. Despite spin-orbit coupling is present in SnAs, our data shows no signatures of a potential unconventional superconductivity, and the characteristic BCS ratio $2Delta/T_c = 3.48 - 3.73$ is very close to the BCS value in the weak coupling limit.
Single crystal of YCoGa5 has been grown via Ga self-flux. In this paper, we report the single crystal growth, crystallographic parameters, resistivity, heat capacity, and band structure results of YCoGa5. YCoGa5 accommodates the HoCoGa5 type structure (space group P4/mmm (No. 123), Z = 1, a = 4.2131(6) A, c = 6.7929(13) A, which is isostructural to the extensively studied heavy fermion superconductor system CeMIn5 (M = Co, Rh, Ir) and the unconventional superconductor PuCoGa5 with Tc = 18.5 K. No superconductivity is observed down to 1.75 K. Band structure calculation results show that its band at the Fermi level is mainly composed of Co-3d and Ga-4p electrons states, which explains its similarity of physical properties to YbCoGa5 and LuCoGa5.
We discuss the important aspects of synthesis and crystal growth of MgB2 under high pressure (P) and temperature (T) in Mg-B-N system, including the optimisation of P-T conditions for reproducible crystal growth, the role of liquid phases in this process, the temperature dependence of crystal size and the effect of growing instabilities on single crystals morphology. Extensive experiments have been carried out on single crystals with slightly different lattice constants and defects concentration, which revealed and possible effects of Mg-deficiency and lattice strain on the superconducting properties of MgB2 (Tc, Jc, residual resistivity ratio, anisotropy etc.).
The effects of pressure on the superconducting properties of a Bi-based layered superconductor La2O2Bi3Ag0.6Sn0.4S6, which possesses a four-layer-type conducting layer, have been studied through the electrical resistance and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The crystal structure under pressure was examined using synchrotron X-ray diffraction at SPring-8. In the low-pressure regime, bulk superconductivity with a transition temperature Tc of ~ 4.5 K was induced by pressure, which was achieved by in-plane chemical pressure effect owing to the compression of the tetragonal structure. In the high-pressure regime above 6.4 GPa, a structural symmetry lowering was observed, and superconducting transitions with a Tc ~ 8 K were observed. Our results suggest the possible commonality on the factor essential for Tc in Bi-based superconductors with two-layer-type and four-layer-type conducting layers.
Recent experiments showed the distinct observations on the transition metal ditelluride NiTe$_2$ under pressure: one reported a superconducting phase transition at 12 GPa, whereas another observed a sign reversal of Hall resistivity at 16 GPa without the appearance of superconductivity. To clarify the controversial experimental phenomena, we have carried out first-principles electronic structure calculations on the compressed NiTe$_2$ with structure searching and optimization. Our calculations show that the pressure can transform NiTe$_2$ from a layered P-3m1 phase to a cubic Pa-3 phase at $sim$10 GPa. Meanwhile, both the P-3m1 and Pa-3 phases possess nontrivial topological properties. The calculated superconducting $T_c$s for these two phases based on the electron-phonon coupling theory both approach 0 K. Further magnetic transport calculations reveal that the sign of Hall resistance for the Pa-3 phase is sensitive to the pressure and the charge doping, in contrast to the case of the P-3m1 phase. Our theoretical predictions on the compressed NiTe$_2$ wait for careful experimental examinations.