We show that the quasi-skutterudite superconductor Sr_3Ir_4Sn_{13} undergoes a structural transition from a simple cubic parent structure, the I-phase, to a superlattice variant, the I'-phase, which has a lattice parameter twice that of the high temperature phase. We argue that the superlattice distortion is associated with a charge density wave transition of the conduction electron system and demonstrate that the superlattice transition temperature T* can be suppressed to zero by combining chemical and physical pressure. This enables the first comprehensive investigation of a superlattice quantum phase transition and its interplay with superconductivity in a cubic charge density wave system.
@article{arxiv.1202.3282,
title = {Pressure-induced and Composition-induced Structural Quantum Phase Transition in the Cubic Superconductor (Sr/Ca)_3Ir_4Sn_{13}},
author = {Lina E. Klintberg and Swee K. Goh and Patricia L. Alireza and Paul J. Saines and David A. Tompsett and Peter W. Logg and Jinhu Yang and Bin Chen and Kazuyoshi Yoshimura and F. Malte Grosche},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1202.3282},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
4 figures, 5 pages (excluding supplementary material). To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett