Superconductivity in the thorium nickel borocarbide ThNiBC

- We report on the synthesis, crystal structure, physical properties, and first-principles calculations of a new borocarbide ThNiBC. The new compound was synthesized by an arc-melting method, crystallizing in a tetragonal LuNiBC-type structure with an exceptionally low axial ratio of c/a = 1.98. The physical property measurements indicate that it is a Pauli-paramagnetic metal with significant electron-electron scattering. Bulk superconductivity at Tc = 0.7 K is demon-strated with zero electrical resistivity, Meissner effect, and specific-heat jump. The first-principles calculations reveal a relatively low density of states at the Fermi level with multiple electron-type Fermi surfaces.Copyright (c) 2023 EPLA

Automated summary

We present the synthesis, crystal structure, physical properties, and first-principles calculations of a novel borocarbide compound, ThNiBC. The compound was synthesized using an arc-melting method and exhibited a tetragonal LuNiBC-type structure with an unusually low c/a ratio of 1.98. Physical property measurements revealed it to be a Pauli-paramagnetic metal with significant electron-electron scattering. Furthermore, bulk superconductivity at Tc = 0.7 K was demonstrated, displaying zero electrical resistivity, the Meissner effect, and a specific-heat jump. First-principles calculations indicated a relatively low density of states at the Fermi level and multiple electron-type Fermi surfaces.