We report the synthesis, electronic properties, and electronic structure of ullmannite-type PtSbS, which has a cubic crystal structure without space inversion symmetry. Electrical resistivity and magnetization measured at low temperatures suggested that this compound is a bulk superconductor with a superconducting transition temperature of Tc = 0.15 K. First principles calculations indicated that Fermi surfaces of PtSbS include strongly nested hole pockets, which can make this compound interesting if they contribute to the emergence of superconductivity.
This is a model study for the emergence of superconductivity in ferromagnetically ordered phases of cubic materials whose crystal structure lacks inversion symmetry. A Ginzburg-Landau-type theory is used to find the ferromagnetic state and to determine the coupling of magnetic order to superconductivity. It is found that noncentrosymmetricity evokes a helical magnetic phase. If the wavelength of the magnetic order is long enough, it gives rise to modulations of the order parameter of superconductivity, both in modulus and complex phase. At magnetic domain walls the nucleation of superconductiv…
Superconductivity in BaPtSb with the SrPtSb-type structure (space group $P\bar{6}m2$, $D_{3h}^1$, No. 187) is reported. The structure consists of a PtSb ordered honeycomb network that stacks along the $c$-axis so that spatial inversion symmetry is broken globally. Electrical resistivity and specific-heat measurements revealed that the compound exhibited superconductivity at 1.64 K. The noncentrosymmetric structure and the strong spin-orbit coupling of Pt and Sb make BaPtSb an attractive compound for studying the exotic superconductivity predicted for a honeycomb network.
Mixing of spin singlet and spin triplet superconducting pairing state is expected in noncentrosymmetric superconductors (NCS) due to the inherent presence of Rashba-type antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling. Unlike low symmetry (tetragonal or monoclinic) NCS, parity is isotropicaly broken in space for cubic NCS and can additionally lead to the coexistence of magnetic and superconducting state under certain conditions. Motivated with such enriched possibility of unconventional superconducting phases in cubic NCS we are reporting successful formation of single crystalline cubic noncentrosymmetric P…
Antiperovskites are a promising candidate structure for the exploration of new materials. We discovered an antiperovskite phosphide, LaPd$_{3}$P, following our recent synthesis of $A$Pd$_{3}$P ($A$ = Ca, Sr, Ba). While $A$Pd$_{3}$P and (Ca,Sr)Pd$_{3}$P were found to be tetragonal or orthorhombic systems, LaPd$_{3}$P is a new prototype cubic system ($a$ = 9.0317(1) A) with a noncentrosymmetric space group ($I-43m$). LaPd$_{3}$P exhibited superconductivity with a transition temperature ($T_\mathrm{c}$) of 0.28 K. The upper critical field, Debye temperature, and Sommerfeld constant ($γ$) were det…
We study the negative refractive index in cubic noncentrosymmetric superconductors. We consider the Maxwell equations under the Meissner effect, and magnetoelectric effect arising due to broken inversion symmetry. We derive dispersion relations of electromagnetic waves, and show that the refractive index becomes negative at frequencies just below the Higgs gap. We find that the chiral mechanism of the negative refractive index, which is usually discussed in chiral materials with negative permittivity can be applied to superconductors with positive permittivity by replacing the plasma gap with …
RhGe synthesized at high pressure is crystallized in noncentrosymmetric cubic structure of the B20 type. Measurements of the electrical resistivity and magnetization demonstrate a superconducting state below T$_c$ ~ 4.5 K and a weak ferromagnetism below T$_m$ ~ 140 K. Specific heat data confirm the bulk nature of superconductivity in this ferromagnetic superconductor. The superconducting region forms a dome on the P-T diagram with a maximum of T$_c$ near 4 GPa. Ab initio simulations suggest that the observed weak magnetization emerges from the pronounced spin polarization with magnetic quadrup…
Gap structure in noncentrosymmetric superconductors with spin-orbit band splitting is studied using a microscopic model of pairing mediated by phonons and/or spin fluctuations. The general form of pairing interaction in the band representation is derived, which includes both the intraband and interband pairing terms. In the case of isotropic interaction (in particular, for a BCS-contact interaction), the interband pairing terms vanish identically at any magnitude of the band splitting. The effects of pairing interaction anisotropy are analyzed in detail for a metal of cubic symmetry with stron…
The effects of absence of inversion symmetry on superconducting states are investigated theoretically. In particular we focus on the noncentrosymmetric compounds which have the cubic symmetry $O$ like Li$_2$Pt$_3$B. An appropriate and isotropic spin-orbital interaction is added in the Hamiltonian and it acts like a magnetic monopole in the momentum space. The consequent pairing wavefunction has an additional triplet component in the pseudospin space, and a Zeeman magnetic field $\bf{B}$ can induce a collinear supercurrent $\bf{J}$ with a coefficient $κ(T)$. The effects of anisotropy embedded i…
We calculate the upper critical field in superconductors without inversion symmetry at arbitrary temperatures, in the presence of scalar impurities. Both orbital and spin (paramagnetic) mechanisms of pair breaking are considered. The superconducting phase transition at nonzero field occurs into a helical vortex state, in which the order parameter is modulated along the applied field (in a cubic crystal). The helical state is stable with respect to disorder. However, if the difference between the densities of states in the electron bands split by spin-orbit coupling is neglected, then the order…
A series of new Cr$_{5+x}$Mo$_{35-x}$W$_{12}$Re$_{35}$Ru$_{13}$C$_{20}$ high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have been synthesized and characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements. It is found that the HEAs adopt a noncentrosymmetric cubic $β$-Mn type structure and exhibit bulk superconductivity for 0 $\leq$ $x$ $\leq$ 9. With increasing $x$, the cubic lattice parameter decreases from 6.7940(3) Å to 6.7516(3) Å. Meanwhile, the superconducting transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ is suppressed from 5.49 K to…
The noncentrosymmetric superconductor AuBe have been investigated using the magnetization, resistivity, specific heat, and muon-spin relaxation/rotation measurements. AuBe crystallizes in the cubic FeSi-type B20 structure with superconducting transition temperature observed at $T_{c}$ = 3.2 $\pm$ 0.1 K. The low-temperature specific heat data, $C_{el}$(T), indicate a weakly-coupled fully gapped BCS superconductivity with an isotropic energy gap 2$Δ(0)/k_{B}T_{c}$ = 3.76, which is close to the BCS value of 3.52. Interestingly, type-I superconductivity is inferred from the $μ$SR measurements, whi…
Superconductivity, at 2-3 K, was observed in a novel phase of the ternary Li-Rh-B system. The structural phase exhibits a large noncentrosymmetric cubic unit cell with the a-parameter being within 1.208 \leq a \leq 1.215 nm. This phase is stable over a wider compositional range of LixRhBy (0.6 < x < 2, 1 < y < 2). The superconductivity, as well as the unit cell volume, is sensitive to the Li/B content but it is manifested with Tc \geq 1.8 K over a wider compositional range: the highest Tc \approx 3 K occurs for x : y \approx 0.9:1.5 with a \approx 1.209 nm. The superconducting shielding fracti…
We report the discovery of superconductivity in a series of noncentrosymmetric compounds La$_4$$TX$ ($T$ = Ru, Rh, Ir; $X$ = Al, In), which have a cubic crystal structure with space group $F\bar{4}3m$. La$_4$RuAl, La$_4$RhAl, La$_4$IrAl, La$_4$RuIn and La$_4$IrIn exhibit bulk superconducting transitions with critical temperatures $T_c$ of 1.77 K, 3.05 K, 1.54 K, 0.58 K and 0.93 K, respectively. The specific heat of the La$_4$$T$Al compounds are consistent with an $s$-wave model with a fully open superconducting gap. In all cases, the upper critical fields are well described by the Werthamer-He…
A quaternary compound with the composition Mo$_{3}$ReRuC is obtained in a previously unexplored MoReRu-Mo$_{2}$C system. According to x-ray structural analysis, Mo$_{3}$ReRuC crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric space group $P$4$_{1}$32 (cubic $β$-Mn type structure, $a$ = 6.8107(1) Å). Below 7.7 K, Mo$_{3}$ReRuC becomes a bulk type-II superconductor with an upper critical field close to the Pauli paramagnetic limit. The specific heat data gives a large normalized jump $Δ$$C_{\rm p}$/$γ$$T_{\rm c}$ = 2.3 at $T_{\rm c}$, which points to a strongly coupled superconducting state. First principle…
We report on the first successful growth of single crystals of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor Mo$_3$Al$_2$C obtained by means of a cubic-anvil, high-pressure and high-temperature technique. Composition, structure, and normal-state transport properties of the crystals were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility and resistivity measurements as a function of temperature. Variations in critical temperature ($T_c$) between 8.6 and 9.3 K were observed, probably due to the slightly different carbon stoichiometry of the samples. Sing…
Mg10Ir19B16, a previously unreported compound in the Mg-Ir-B chemical system, is found to be superconducting at temperatures near 5 K. The fact that the compound exhibits a range of superconducting temperatures between 4 and 5 K suggests that a range of stoichiometries is allowed, though no structural evidence for this is observed. The compound has a large, noncentrosymmetric, body centered cubic unit cell with a = 10.568 Angstrom, displaying a structure type for which no previous superconductors have been reported.
