Electron-phonon coupling in the conventional superconductor YNi 2B 2C at high phonon energies studied by time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy

F. Weber, S. Rosenkranz, L. Pintschovius, J. P. Castellan, R. Osborn, W. Reichardt, R. Heid, K. P. Bohnen, E. A. Goremychkin, A. Kreyssig, K. Hradil, D. L. Abernathy

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Abstract

We report an inelastic neutron scattering investigation of phonons with energies up to 159meV in the conventional superconductor YNi 2B 2C. Using the sweep mode, a newly developed time-of-flight technique involving the continuous rotation of a single crystal specimen, allowed us to measure a four-dimensional volume in (Q, E) space and, thus, determine the dispersion surface and linewidths of the A 1g (102meV) and A u (159meV) type phonon modes over the whole Brillouin zone. Despite of having linewidths of Γ=10meV, A 1g modes do not strongly contribute to the total electron-phonon coupling constant λ. However, experimental linewidths show a remarkable agreement with abinitio calculations over the complete phonon energy range, demonstrating the accuracy of such calculations in a rare comparison to a comprehensive experimental data set.

Original languageEnglish
Article number057001
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume109
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 31 2012

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