Crystal growth, characterization, and point-contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor Mo3Al2C
N. D. Zhigadlo, D. Logvinovich, V. A. Stepanov, R. S. Gonnelli, D. Daghero
DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.97.214518 · Physical Review B
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Abstract
We report on the first successful growth of single crystals of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor Mo3Al2C 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 (Tc) between 8.6 and 9.3 K were observed, probably due to the slightly different carbon stoichiometry of the samples. Single-crystal x-ray refinement confirmed the high structural perfection of the grown crystals. Remarkably, the refined Flack parameter values for all the measured crystals using a P4132 space-group model were consistently close to either 0 or 1, hence indicating that the considered crystals belong to two enantiomorphic space groups, P4132 and P4332. An anomaly in the resistivity is observed at ≃130 K, most likely associated with the onset of a charge-density-wave phase. The superconducting properties (and in particular the symmetry, the amplitude, and the temperature dependence of the superconducting gap) were studied by using point contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy. The results confirm that Mo3Al2C is a moderately strongly-coupled superconductor with 2Δ/kBTc≃4 and unambiguously prove that the order parameter has an s-wave symmetry despite the asymmetric spin-orbit coupling arising from the lack of inversion symmetry.
Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval
| Formula | Reported Tc (K) | Pressure (GPa) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mo3Al2C Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula. | 8.9 | Pressure not reported | unknown |
| CePt3Si Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula. | 0.75 | Pressure not reported | unknown |
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