English

Multiple- to single-gap superconductivity crossover in Nb$_5$Ir$_{3-x}$Pt$_x$O alloys

Superconductivity 2020-04-23 v1 Materials Science Strongly Correlated Electrons

Abstract

By using mostly the muon-spin rotation/relaxation (μ\muSR) technique, we investigate the superconductivity (SC) of Nb5_5Ir3x_{3-x}Ptx_xO (x=0x = 0 and 1.6) alloys, with Tc=10.5T_c = 10.5 K and 9.1 K, respectively. At a macroscopic level, their superconductivity was studied by electrical resistivity, magnetization, and specific-heat measurements. In both compounds, the electronic specific heat and the low-temperature superfluid density data suggest a nodeless SC. The superconducting gap value and the specific heat discontinuity at TcT_c are larger than that expected from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory in the weak-coupling regime, indicating strong-coupling superconductivity in the Nb5_5Ir3x_{3-x}Ptx_xO family. In Nb5_5Ir3_3O, multigap SC is evidenced by the field dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient and the superconducting Gaussian relaxation rate, as well as by the temperature dependence of the upper critical field. Pt substitution suppresses one of the gaps, and Nb5_5Ir1.4_{1.4}Pt1.6_{1.6}O becomes a single-gap superconductor. By combining our extensive experimental results, we provide evidence for a multiple- to single-gap SC crossover in the Nb5_5Ir3x_{3-x}Ptx_xO family.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2003.14033,
  title  = {Multiple- to single-gap superconductivity crossover in Nb$_5$Ir$_{3-x}$Pt$_x$O alloys},
  author = {Y. Xu and S. Jöhr and L. Das and J. Kitagawa and M. Medarde and T. Shiroka and J. Chang and T. Shang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.14033},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

10 pages, 13 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. B