Tuning the pressure-induced superconductivity in Pd-substituted CeRhIn5

TL;DR

This study investigates how Pd substitution in CeRhIn5 influences pressure-induced superconductivity, revealing that Pd doping shifts the system closer to coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity at ambient pressure.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Pd substitution in CeRhIn5 modifies magnetic behavior and enables superconductivity at lower pressures, providing insights into tuning superconductivity in heavy-fermion systems.

Findings

Pd substitution increases unit cell volume by 0.6%.

Superconductivity in CeRh0.75Pd0.25In5 appears at lower pressures.

The crystal structure remains tetragonal with Pd doping.

Abstract

The effect of substituting Rh in CeRh1-xPdxIn5 with Pd up to x = 0.25 has been studied on single crystals. The crystals have been grown by means of the In self-flux method and characterized by x-ray diffraction and microprobe. The tetragonal HoCoGa5-type of structure and the c/a ratio of the parent compound remains intact by the Pd substitution; the unit cell volume increases by 0.6 % with x = 0.25 of Pd. The low-temperature behavior of resistivity was studied also under hydrostatic pressure up to 2.25 GPa. The Pd substitution for Rh affects the magnetic behavior and the maximum value of the superconducting transition temperature measured at pressures above 2 GPa only negligibly. On the other hand, the results provide evidence that superconductivity in CeRh0.75Pd0.25In5 is induced at significantly lower pressures, i.e. the Pd substitution for Rh shifts the CeRh1-xPdxIn5 system closer to coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity at ambient pressure.