Superconducting Properties of BaBi$_{3}$

TL;DR

This study investigates the superconducting characteristics of BaBi$_{3}$, revealing it as a moderately coupled s-wave superconductor with a $T_c$ of 5.82 K, supported by experimental measurements and electronic structure calculations.

Contribution

First comprehensive analysis of BaBi$_{3}$'s superconducting properties combining experimental data with electronic structure calculations.

Findings

$T_c$ of 5.82 K determined from heat capacity.

BaBi$_{3}$ exhibits s-wave superconducting gap.

Moderately high density of states at Fermi level.

Abstract

We report the superconducting properties of single crystals of the intermetallic perovskite-related compound BaBi$_{3}$. The superconducting transition temperature ($T_{c}=5.82$~K) was obtained from heat capacity measurements. Using the measured values for the critical fields $H_{c1}, H_{c2}$, and the specific heat $C$, we estimate the thermodynamic critical field $H_{c}$(0), coherence length $\xi$(0), Debye temperature $\Theta _{D}$ and coupling constant $\lambda _{ep}$. $\Delta C/\gamma T_{c}$ and $\lambda _{ep}$ suggest that BaBi$_{3}$ is a moderately coupled superconductor and $\gamma $ suggests an enhanced density of states at the Fermi level. Electronic band structure calculations show a complex Fermi surface and a moderately high DOS at the Fermi level. Further analysis of the electronic specific heat shows that the superconducting properties are dominated by s-wave gap.