Superconductivity in the Nb-Ru-Geσ phase

Carnicom, Elizabeth M.; Xie, Weiwei; Sobczak, Zuzanna; Kong, Tai; Klimczuk, Tomasz; Cava, R. J.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.074802

Title: Superconductivity in the Nb-Ru-Ge $σ$ phase

Journal Article · Thu Dec 07 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Physical Review Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.1.074802· OSTI ID:1411888

Carnicom, Elizabeth M. ^[1]; Xie, Weiwei ^[2]; Sobczak, Zuzanna ^[3]; Kong, Tai ^[1]; Klimczuk, Tomasz ^[3]; Cava, R. J. ^[1]

Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
Gdansk Univ. of Technology, Gdansk (Poland)

Here, we show that the previously unreported ternary σ-phase material Nb_20.4Ru_5.7Ge_3.9 (Nb_0.68Ru_0.19Ge_0.13) is a superconductor with a critical temperature of 2.2 K. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility, resistance, and specific heat measurements were used to characterize the superconducting transition. The Sommerfeld constant γ for Nb_20.4Ru_5.7Ge_3.9 is 91 mJ mol-f.u.^-1K^-2 (~3 mJ mol-atom^-1K^-2) and the specific heat anomaly at the superconducting transition, ΔC/γT_c, is approximately 1.38. The zero-temperature upper critical field (µ₀Hc₂(0)) was estimated to be 2 T by resistance data. Field-dependent magnetization data analysis estimated µ₀Hc₁(0) to be 5.5 mT. Thus, the characterization shows Nb_20.4Ru_5.7Ge_3.9 to be a type II BCS superconductor. This material appears to be the first reported ternary phase in the Nb-Ru-Ge system, and the fact that there are no previously reported binary Nb-Ru, Nb-Ge, or Ru-Ge σ-phases shows that all three elements are necessary to stabilize the material. An analogous σ-phase in the Ta-Ru-Ge system did not display superconductivity above 1.7 K, which suggests that electron count cannot govern the superconductivity observed. Preliminary characterization of a possible superconducting σ-phase in the Nb-Ru-Ga system is also reported.

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Research Organization:: Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-98ER45706

OSTI ID:: 1411888

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1411803

Journal Information:: Physical Review Materials, Vol. 1, Issue 7; ISSN 2475-9953

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 2 works

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