Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

Polycrystalline Zr5Al4 was synthesized using the arc-melting method. Powder X-ray diffraction confirms the previously reported crystal structure of the Ti5Ga4-type P63/mcm with lattice parameters: a = 8.4312(6) A , and c = 5.7752(8) A . Electrical resistivity and low-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that Zr5Al4 exhibits superconducting behavior below 2 K. The normalized heat capacity jump at Tc= 1.82 K , deltaC/gammaTc = 1.50 , confirms the bulk superconductivity. The Sommerfeld coefficient gamma = 28.5 mJmol^-1K^-2 and the Debye temperature Theta_D= 320 K were obtained by fitting the low-temperature heat capacity data. The electron-phonon coupling strength lambda_(el-ph) = 0.49 and estimated upper critical field mi0Hc2(0) = 1.09 T (dirty limit) suggest that Zr5Al4 is a weakly coupled type-II superconductor. First-principles calculations show the presence of a van Hove singularity near the Fermi energy.

Authors

• Zuzanna Sobczak link open in new tab ,
• dr inż. Michał Winiarski link open in new tab ,
• Weiwei Xie,
• R.j. Cava,
• prof. dr hab. inż. Tomasz Klimczuk link open in new tab