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Superconductivity and strong spin-orbit coupling in a new noncentrosymmetric compound ThIrP

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Abstract

A new noncentrosymmetric phosphide ThIrP has been synthesized and characterized. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that this compound crystallizes in a LaPtSi-type tetragonal lattice (space group I41md, Z = 4), whose lattice parameters are a = b = 4.0676(1) Å, c = 14.3354(2) Å, and V = 237.191(8) Å3. Moreover, ThIrP is discovered to be an intermediately coupled, type-II superconductor with possibly multiple gaps below Tc = 5.07 K. The upper critical magnetic field, Sommerfield coefficient, and Ginzburg-Laudau parameter are determined based on physical property measurements, which are Bc2 = 0.83 T, γ = 7.5 mJ mol−1 K−2, and κGL = 7.5, respectively. The electronic band structure calculations point out nearly equal contributions of Ir and Th atoms on the density of states around the Fermi surface. In addition, the spin-orbit coupling induced band splitting reaches as large as 270 meV along the Γ-Z line. Our results suggest that ThIrP provides a platform to study the interplay between inversion-symmetry breaking, strong spin-orbit coupling, and superconductivity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    GuoRui Xiao, YanWei Cui, BaiZhuo Li, SiQi Wu & Guang-Han Cao

  2. School of Science, Westlake University, Hangzhou, 310064, China

    GuoRui Xiao, QinQing Zhu, YanWei Cui, WuZhang Yang & Zhi Ren

  3. Institute of Natural Sciences, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou, 310064, China

    GuoRui Xiao, QinQing Zhu, YanWei Cui, WuZhang Yang & Zhi Ren

  4. Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    QinQing Zhu & WuZhang Yang

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  1. GuoRui Xiao
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  2. QinQing Zhu
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Correspondence to Zhi Ren.

Additional information

We acknowledge financial support by the foundation of Westlake University. The work at Zhejiang University is supported by the National Key Research Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFA0303002) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China.

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Xiao, G., Zhu, Q., Cui, Y. et al. Superconductivity and strong spin-orbit coupling in a new noncentrosymmetric compound ThIrP. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 64, 107411 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-021-1731-3

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