Ta4CoSi: a Tantalum-rich superconductor with a honeycomb network structure

Abstract

The crystal structure of solid-state materials with unique lattices is considered one of the main factors determining physical properties, including superconductivity. Materials with honeycomb lattices have inspired intense research interest for their novel properties. A previously unknown compound, Ta4CoSi, are discussed herein and its crystal structure and superconducting properties. It crystallizes in a CuAl2-type structure (space group P4/mcm, No. 124) with the lattice parameters a = b = 6.17755(7)Å and c = 4.98443(8) Å, featuring honeycomb networks of Ta-Ta in (110) plane. Superconductivity is observed below the critical temperature of 2.45 K, while lower and upper critical magnetic fields are 9.86 mT and 0.84 T, respectively. Experiments and theoretical calculations show that the honeycomb lattices significantly influence the superconducting properties. This material may thus provide a new platform for investigating the exotic superconductivity of honeycomb networks.

23 pages, 8 figures, The manuscript with the same title will be published by PRB

References in corpus (5)

• Effect of Electron Count and Chemical Complexity in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti High-Entropy Alloy Superconductor
• Superfluid density of the $\pm$s-wave state for the iron-based superconductors
• Specific heat evidence for two-gap superconductivity in ternary-iron silicide Lu${}_2$Fe${}_3$Si${}_5$
• Strong coupling nature of kagome superconductivity in LaRu${}_3$Si${}_2$
• Caloric Determination of the Upper Critical Fields and Anisotropy of NdFeAsO1-xFx Single Crystals