Effects of magnetic atoms on the properties of ternary superconductors

Conclusion

It is noteworthy that while only two classes of systems (the Chevrel phases and the rare-earth rhodium borides) have so far received extensive study, nonetheless a great many new phenomena have been encountered. This, however, should only be considered the beginning of a new and potentially very rich field, especially if one considers the vast number of possibilities of ternary compounds that can be produced. To take only one other example, recent work has shown that the compound Sc₂Fe₃Si₅ is superconducting with a superconducting transition of 4.5 K (29). This at first may appear surprising since ever in the Chevrel phase materials, the addition of Fe atoms is detrimental to superconductivity. However, recent Mossbauer effect experiments (29) have shown that the Fe in this material is not magnetic, having a magnetic moment of less than 0.03 µ_B. These silicides have also been made with rare-earth ions in place of the Sc(²⁸). The compounds show magnetic transitions and are currently under investigation. Several other interesting systems have been synthesized, and it appears that many more will be coming in the near future. The results reported above have shown the utility of hyperfine data in clarifying many of the new phenomena that occur, and it should be expected that as this new field grouws, these kinds of measurements will continue to play an active role (30).