Ni2X2 (X = pnictide, chalcogenide, or B) based superconductors

We review the properties of Ni-based superconductors which contain Ni2X2 (X = As, P, Bi, Si, Ge, B) planes, a common structural element found also in the recently discovered FeAs superconductors. Strong evidence for the fully gapped nature of the superconducting state has come from field dependent thermal conductivity results on BaNi2As2. Coupled with the lack of magnetism. the majority of evidence suggests that the Ni-based compounds are conventional elect ron-phonon mediated superconductors. However, the increase in T-c in LaNiAsO with doping is anomalous, and mimics the behavior in LaFeAsO. Furthermore, comparisons of the properties of Ni- and Fe-based systems show many similarities, particularly with regards to structure-property relationships. This suggests a deeper connection between the physics of the FeAs superconductors and the related Ni-based systems which deserves further investigation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.