Superconductivity in two-dimensional phosphorus carbide ($\beta_{0}$-PC)

TL;DR

This study predicts that the two-dimensional phosphorus carbide monolayer ($eta_{0}$-PC) is an intrinsic superconductor with a transition temperature around 13 K, tunable by strain or doping, based on first-principles calculations.

Contribution

First-principles calculations reveal that 2D phosphorus carbide ($eta_{0}$-PC) is an intrinsic phonon-mediated superconductor with a tunable transition temperature.

Findings

$eta_{0}$-PC exhibits superconductivity at $ ext{~}13$ K.

Electron-phonon coupling mainly from out-of-plane phosphorus vibrations.

Superconducting properties are tunable by strain and doping.

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) boron has been predicted to show superconductivity. However, intrinsic 2D carbon and phosphorus have not been reported to be superconductors, which, inspires us to seek superconductivity in their mixture. Here we perform first-principles calculations of the electronic structure, phonon dispersion, and electron-phonon coupling of the metallic phosphorus carbide monolayer, the $\beta_{0}$-PC. Results show that it is an intrinsic phonon-mediated superconductor, with estimated superconducting temperature $T_{c}$ to be $\sim$13 K. The main contribution to the electron-phonon coupling is from the out-of-plane vibrations of phosphorus. A Kohn anomaly on the first acoustic branch is observed. The superconducting related physical quantities is found tunable by applying strain or carrier doping.