Phonons and electron-phonon coupling in YNi₂B₂C

Journal Article · Tue Mar 04 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Physical Review B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.104503· OSTI ID:1137420

Weber, Frank ^[1]; Pintschovius, L. ^[1]; Reichardt, W. ^[1]; Heid, R. ^[1]; Bohnen, K.-P. ^[1]; Kreyssig, Andreas ^[2]; Reznik, D. ^[3]; Hradil, K. ^[4]

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1. Karlsruhe Inst. for Technology (Germany)
2. Dresden Univ. of Technology (Germany); Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
3. CEA Saclay (France); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
4. Univ. of Gottingen (Germany)

We present a combined density functional perturbation theory and inelastic neutron scattering study of the lattice dynamical properties of YNi₂B₂C. In general, very good agreement was found between theory and experiment for both phonon energies and line widths. Our analysis reveals that the strong coupling of certain low energy modes is linked to the presence of large displacements of the light atoms, i.e., B and C, which is unusual in view of the rather low phonon energies. Specific modes exhibiting a strong coupling to the electronic quasiparticles were investigated as a function of temperature. Their energies and line widths showed marked changes on cooling from room temperature to just above the superconducting transition at T_c = 15.2 K. Calculations simulating the effects of temperature allow us to model the observed temperature dependence qualitatively.

• Research Organization: Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11358
• OSTI ID: 1137420
• Report Number(s): IS-J 8271
• Journal Information: Physical Review B, Vol. 89, Issue 10; ISSN 2469-9950
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE