Abstract
We report the synthesis and physical properties of a full Heusler compound, MgPd2Sb, which we found to show superconductivity below Tc=2.2K. MgPd2Sb was obtained by a two-step solid-state reaction method and its purity and cubic crystal structure [Fm-3m, a=6.4523(1)Å] were confirmed by powder x-ray diffraction. Normal and superconducting states were studied by electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity measurements. The results show that MgPd2Sb is a type-II, weak coupling superconductor (λe-p=0.53). The observed pressure dependence of Tc (ΔTc/p≈-0.23K/GPa) is one of the strongest reported for a superconducting Heusler compound. The electronic structure, phonons, and electron-phonon coupling in MgPd2Sb were theoretically investigated. The obtained results are in agreement with the experiment, confirming the electron-phonon coupling mechanism of superconductivity. We compare the superconducting parameters to those of all reported Heusler-type superconductors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 214501 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue number | 21 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Work at GUT was supported by the National Science Centre (Poland), Grant No. 2017/27/B/ST5/03044. Work at AGH-UST was supported by the National Science Centre (Poland), Project No. 2017/26/E/ST3/00119, and by an allocation of the computational time by the PL-GRID infrastructure. The synthetic work at Princeton was supported by the US Department of Energy, Division of Basic Energy Sciences, Grant No. DE-FG02- 98ER45706.