Phonon spectrum and soft-mode behavior of MgCNi_3

Abstract

Temperature dependent inelastic neutron-scattering measurements of the generalized phonon density-of-states for superconducting MgCNi_3, T_c=8 K, give evidence for a soft-mode behavior of low-frequency Ni phonon modes. Results are compared with ab initio density functional calculations which suggest an incipient lattice instability of the stoichiometric compound with respect to Ni vibrations orthogonal to the Ni-C bond direction.

arXiv comment4 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Superconductivity Near Ferromagnetism in MgCNi3
• Electronic structures of antiperovskite superconductors: MgXNi${}_3$ (X=B,C,N)
• Superconductivity and Electronic Structure of Perovskite MgCNi3
• BCS-like Superconductivity in MgCNi3
• Electronic structure, magnetism and superconductivity of MgCNi${}_3$
• The suppression of superconductivity in MgCNi3 by Ni-site doping
• Superconductivity near the vibrational mode instability in MgCNi3
• Temperature dependence of the structural parameters of the non-oxide perovskite superconductor MgCNi3

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Evidence for strong electron-phonon coupling in MgCNi_3
• Electronic Structure of ZnCNi3
• Theoretical search for superconductivity in Sc3XB perovskites and weak ferromagnetism in Sc3X (X = Tl, In, Ga, Al)
• S-wave superconductivity probed by measuring magnetic penetration depth and lower critical field of MgCNi${}_3$ single crystals
• Role of C in MgC_xNi_3 investigated from first principles
• Superconducting energy gap in MgCNi3 single crystals: Point-contact spectroscopy and specific-heat measurements
• Competition of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in Sc3InB
• A first-principles comparison of the electronic properties of MgC_{y}Ni_{3} and ZnC_{y}Ni_{3} alloys
• Prediction of superconductivity of $3d$ transition-metal based antiperovskites via magnetic phase diagram
• Compositional disorder and its influence on the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of MgC(Ni_{1-x}Co_{x})_{3} alloys using first-principles
• Point-contact investigations of challenging superconductors: two-band MgB2, antiferromagnetic HoNi2B2C, heavy fermion UPd2Al3, paramagnetic MgCNi3
• An exactly soluble model of a shallow double well