Compressibility of the MgB2 Superconductor

Abstract

Considerable excitement has been caused recently by the discovery that the binary boride system with stoichiometry MgB2 is superconducting at the remarkably high temperature of 39 K (1). This potentially opens the way to even higher Tc values in a new family of superconductors with unexpectedly simple composition and structure. The simplicity in the electronic and crystal structures could allow the understanding of the physics of high-Tc superconductivity without the presence of the multitude of complicated features, associated with the cuprates. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to measure the isothermal compressibility of MgB2, revealing a stiff tightly-packed incompressible solid with only moderate bonding anisotropy between intra- and inter-layer directions. These results, combined with the pressure evolution of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc establish its relation to the B and Mg bonding distances over a broad range of values.

6 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Superconductivity of metallic boron in MgB_2
• Boron Isotope Effect in Superconducting MgB${}_2$

Cited by in corpus (15)

• Elastic properties of mono- and polycrystalline hexagonal AlB2-like diborides of s, p and d metals from first-principles calculations
• Intralayer Carbon Substitution in the MgB2 Superconductor
• Raman spectrum and lattice parameters of MgB2 as a function of pressure
• The Dependence of Tc on Hydrostatic Pressure in Superconducting MgB2
• Crystal structure and lattice dynamics of AlB2 under pressure and implications for MgB2
• MgB_2 under pressure: phonon calculations, Raman spectroscopy, and optical reflectance
• Bonding Nature in MgB2
• Absence of a structural transition up to 40 Gpa in MgB2 and the relevance of magnesium non-stoichiometry
• A magnetization and ${}^{11}$B NMR study of Mg${}_{1-x}$Al${}_x$B${}_2$ superconductors
• muSR study of carbon-doped MgB2 superconductors
• Comparative Study of the Electronic Structure of Alkaline-earth Borides (MeB2; Me=Mg, Al, Zr, Nb, and Ta) and their Normal-State Conductivity
• Raman spectra of MgB2 at high pressure and topological electronic transition
• Pressure dependence of critical temperature in MgB2 and two bands Eliashberg theory
• Pressure Effects and Large Polarons in Layered MgB_2 Superconductor
• Pressure induced evolution of anisotropic superconductivity and Fermi surface nesting in a ternary boride