Superconductivity of Mo3Sb7 from first principles

TL;DR

This paper uses first-principles calculations to analyze the superconductivity in Mo3Sb7, determining the electron-phonon coupling and explaining the experimental critical temperature, while discussing the effects of spin fluctuations.

Contribution

It provides a first-principles calculation of the electron-phonon coupling in Mo3Sb7 and discusses the influence of spin fluctuations on its superconductivity.

Findings

Electron-phonon coupling constant 1=0.54

Superconducting critical temperature T_c=2.2 K explained

Weak electron-paramagnon interaction

Abstract

Superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is analyzed using the combined electronic structure and phonon calculations, and the electron--phonon coupling constant \lambda_{ph}=0.54 is determined from first principles. This value explains the experimental value of the superconducting critical temperature T_c=2.2 K. The possible influence of spin fluctuations and spin gap on the superconductivity in Mo3Sb7 is discussed, and electron--paramagnon interaction is found to be weak.