Superconductivity at 6 K and the violation of Pauli limit in Ta2PdxS5

TL;DR

This study reports superconductivity at 6 K in Ta2PdxS5 with a high upper critical field exceeding the Pauli limit, likely due to strong spin-orbit scattering from Pd deficiencies.

Contribution

It demonstrates superconductivity in Ta2PdxS5 with a record high upper critical field surpassing the Pauli limit, attributed to spin-orbit scattering effects.

Findings

Superconductivity at Tc ~ 6 K in Ta2PdxS5.

Upper critical field Hc2(0) ~ 31 T exceeds Pauli limit.

Strong spin-orbit scattering suppresses paramagnetic pair-breaking.

Abstract

Ta2PdxS5 (x < 1.0) was found to show superconductivity at Tc ~ 6 K. The temperature dependent resistivity of single crystalline Ta2Pd0.92S5 showed that the system is strongly disordered due to Pd deficiencies and close to Anderson localized state. Superconductivity in the dirty limit as well as the temperature dependence of specific heat C(T) implies that superconductivity is s-wave. The upper critical field Hc2 at T = 0 K limit with the magnetic field parallel to the TaS6 chains was found to be as high as 31 T, exceeding the Pauli paramagnetic limit Hp = 10.2 T by a factor of 3. We argue that the absence of the paramagnetic pair-breaking originates from strong spin-orbit scattering due to Pd deficiencies embedded in the periodic lattice of heavy 5d Ta and 4d Pd.