The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13
A comprehensive study of the electronic structure, thermodynamic and electrical transport properties reveals the existence of inhomogeneous superconductivity due to structural disorder in Ca _3 Rh _4 Sn _13 doped with La (Ca _3− _x La _x Rh _4 Sn _13 ) or Ce (Ca _3− _x Ce _x Rh _4 Sn _13 ) with supe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2018-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aae4a8 |
| _version_ | 1797750630205358080 |
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| author | A Ślebarski P Zajdel M Fijałkowski M M Maśka P Witas J Goraus Y Fang D C Arnold M B Maple |
| author_facet | A Ślebarski P Zajdel M Fijałkowski M M Maśka P Witas J Goraus Y Fang D C Arnold M B Maple |
| author_sort | A Ślebarski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A comprehensive study of the electronic structure, thermodynamic and electrical transport properties reveals the existence of inhomogeneous superconductivity due to structural disorder in Ca _3 Rh _4 Sn _13 doped with La (Ca _3− _x La _x Rh _4 Sn _13 ) or Ce (Ca _3− _x Ce _x Rh _4 Sn _13 ) with superconducting critical temperatures ${T}_{c}^{\star }$ higher than those ( T _c ) observed in the parent compounds. The T − x diagrams and the entropy S ( x ) _T isotherms document well the relation between the degree of atomic disorder and separation of the high-temperature ${T}_{c}^{\star }$ and T _c -bulk phases. In these dirty superconductors, with the mean free path much smaller than the coherence length, the Werthamer–Helfand–Hohenber theoretical model does not fit well the H _c _2 ( T ) data. We demonstrate that this discrepancy can result from the presence of strong inhomogeneity or from two-band superconductivity in these systems. Both the approaches very well describe the H − T dependencies, but the present results as well as our previous studies give stronger arguments for the scenario based on the presence of nanoscopic inhomogeneity of the superconducting state. A comparative study of La-doped and Ce-doped Ca _3 Rh _4 Sn _13 showed that in the disordered Ca _3− _x Ce _x Rh _4 Sn _13 alloys the presence of spin-glass effects is the cause of the additional increase of ${T}_{c}^{\star }$ in respect to the critical temperatures of disordered Ca _3− _x La _x Rh _4 Sn _13 . We also revisited the nature of structural phase transition at ${T}^{\star }\sim 130\div170$ K and documented that there might be another precursor transition at higher temperatures. Raman spectroscopy and thermodynamic properties suggest that this structural transition may be associated with a CDW-type instability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:35:37Z |
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| id | doaj.art-8a39411f98bd473a9d6d9ea0527a562d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:35:37Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a39411f98bd473a9d6d9ea0527a562d2023-08-08T14:53:48ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302018-01-01201010302010.1088/1367-2630/aae4a8The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13A Ślebarski0P Zajdel1M Fijałkowski2M M Maśka3P Witas4J Goraus5Y Fang6D C Arnold7M B Maple8Institute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice , ul. 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, Poland; Centre for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures, Polish Academy of Sciences, Okólna 2, 50-950 Wrocław, PolandInstitute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice , ul. 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, PolandInstitute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice , ul. 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, PolandInstitute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice , ul. 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, PolandInstitute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice , ul. 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, PolandInstitute of Physics, University of Silesia in Katowice , ul. 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, PolandDepartment of Physics, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States of America; Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States of AmericaSchool of Physical Sciences, University of Kent , Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NH, United KingdomDepartment of Physics, University of California , San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States of AmericaA comprehensive study of the electronic structure, thermodynamic and electrical transport properties reveals the existence of inhomogeneous superconductivity due to structural disorder in Ca _3 Rh _4 Sn _13 doped with La (Ca _3− _x La _x Rh _4 Sn _13 ) or Ce (Ca _3− _x Ce _x Rh _4 Sn _13 ) with superconducting critical temperatures ${T}_{c}^{\star }$ higher than those ( T _c ) observed in the parent compounds. The T − x diagrams and the entropy S ( x ) _T isotherms document well the relation between the degree of atomic disorder and separation of the high-temperature ${T}_{c}^{\star }$ and T _c -bulk phases. In these dirty superconductors, with the mean free path much smaller than the coherence length, the Werthamer–Helfand–Hohenber theoretical model does not fit well the H _c _2 ( T ) data. We demonstrate that this discrepancy can result from the presence of strong inhomogeneity or from two-band superconductivity in these systems. Both the approaches very well describe the H − T dependencies, but the present results as well as our previous studies give stronger arguments for the scenario based on the presence of nanoscopic inhomogeneity of the superconducting state. A comparative study of La-doped and Ce-doped Ca _3 Rh _4 Sn _13 showed that in the disordered Ca _3− _x Ce _x Rh _4 Sn _13 alloys the presence of spin-glass effects is the cause of the additional increase of ${T}_{c}^{\star }$ in respect to the critical temperatures of disordered Ca _3− _x La _x Rh _4 Sn _13 . We also revisited the nature of structural phase transition at ${T}^{\star }\sim 130\div170$ K and documented that there might be another precursor transition at higher temperatures. Raman spectroscopy and thermodynamic properties suggest that this structural transition may be associated with a CDW-type instability.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aae4a8superconductivityatomic disorderelectronic band structurethermodynamic and transport properties |
| spellingShingle | A Ślebarski P Zajdel M Fijałkowski M M Maśka P Witas J Goraus Y Fang D C Arnold M B Maple The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13 New Journal of Physics superconductivity atomic disorder electronic band structure thermodynamic and transport properties |
| title | The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13 |
| title_full | The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13 |
| title_fullStr | The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13 |
| title_short | The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13 |
| title_sort | effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in ca3rh4sn13 |
| topic | superconductivity atomic disorder electronic band structure thermodynamic and transport properties |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aae4a8 |
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