Superconductivity in layered Oxychalcogenide La2O2Bi3AgS6

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of superconductivity at 0.5 K in the layered oxychalcogenide La2O2Bi3AgS6, highlighting a new structural approach for developing superconducting materials.

Contribution

It demonstrates superconductivity in La2O2Bi3AgS6 and suggests a novel strategy of inserting rock-salt-type layers into BiS2-based compounds to induce superconductivity.

Findings

Superconductivity observed at 0.5 K in La2O2Bi3AgS6

Layered structure with alternating LaOBiS2-type and rock-salt-type layers

Proposes a new method for developing superconductors via layer insertion

Abstract

We report the superconductivity in layered oxychalcogenide La2O2Bi3AgS6 compound. The La2O2Bi3AgS6 compound has been reported recently by our group, which has a tetragonal structure with the space group P4/nmm. The crystal structure of La2O2Bi3AgS6 can be regarded as alternate stacks of LaOBiS2-type layer and rock-salt-type (Bi,Ag)S layer. We measured low-temperature electrical resistivity and observed superconductivity at 0.5 K. The observation of superconductivity in the La2O2Bi3AgS6 should provide us with the successful strategy for developing new superconducting phases by the insertion of a rock-salt-type chalcogenide layer into the van der Waals gap of BiS2-based layered compound like LaOBiS2.