Superconductivity in the ternary germanide La{sub 3}Pd{sub 4}Ge{sub 4}

Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2005 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.72.2· OSTI ID:20787751

Fujii, H; Mochiku, T; Takeya, H ^[1]; Sato, A ^[2]

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1. Superconducting Materials Center, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 (Japan)
2. Materials Analysis Station, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan)

The ternary germanide La{sub 3}Pd{sub 4}Ge{sub 4} has been prepared by arc melting. This compound takes a body-centered lattice with an orthorhombic unit cell with the lattice parameters of a=4.2200(3) A, b=4.3850(3) A, and c=25.003(2) A. The crystal structure of La{sub 3}Pd{sub 4}Ge{sub 4} is U{sub 3}Ni{sub 4}Si{sub 4}-type with the space group of Immm, consisting of the combination of structural units of AlB{sub 2}-type and BaAl{sub 4}-type layers. This compound is a type-II superconductor with a critical temperature (T{sub c}) of 2.75 K. The lower critical field H{sub c1}(0) is estimated to be 54 Oe. The upper critical field H{sub c2}(0) estimated by linear extrapolation of the H{sub c2}(T) curves is about 4.0 kOe, whereas the Werthamer-Hefland-Hohemberg theory gives H{sub c2}(0){sup WHH}=3.0 kOe. This is an interesting observation of superconductivity in the compounds with U{sub 3}Ni{sub 4}Si{sub 4}-type structure. The coherence length {xi}(0) of 330 A and the penetration depth {lambda}(0) of 2480 A are derived.

• OSTI ID: 20787751
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Vol. 72, Issue 21; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.72.214520; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM BORIDES
COHERENCE LENGTH
CRITICAL FIELD
EXTRAPOLATION
GERMANIUM ALLOYS
LANTHANUM ALLOYS
LATTICE PARAMETERS
LAYERS
MELTING
ORTHORHOMBIC LATTICES
PALLADIUM ALLOYS
PENETRATION DEPTH
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
TETRAGONAL LATTICES
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
TYPE-II SUPERCONDUCTORS