Sn2Pd: a possible superconducting material with topological surface states

TL;DR

This study reports on the topological semimetal Sn2Pd, which exhibits signs of weak superconductivity below 2.8K and topological surface states, confirmed through detailed magneto transport measurements and modeling.

Contribution

First detailed magneto transport study of Sn2Pd revealing its topological nature and weak superconducting phase.

Findings

Superconductivity onset below 2.8K but no zero resistivity at 2K.

Presence of weak antilocalization effect confirmed by HLN modeling.

Sn2Pd identified as a topological material with a weak superconducting phase.

Abstract

In this article, we report the detailed magneto transport measurements of the topological semimetal (TSM) candidate, Sn2Pd. Single crystal of Sn2Pd is synthesized through the self-flux method. Phase purity and crystalline morphology are confirmed through powder X ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) image. Signatures of superconducting transition are seen in both transport and magneto transport measurements, which are further supported by the AC magnetization studies. Sn2Pd is found to show superconductivity onset at below 2.8K, but not the zero resistivity down to 2K. Although, isothermal magneto resistivity measurements below superconducting onset (2.8K) clearly exhibited superconductor-like behavior, but is not observed in heat capacity measurements, indicating the same to be of weak nature. Magnetotransport measurements performed in a normal state of Sn2Pd show the presence of a weak antilocalization (WAL) effect, which is confirmed by modeling of low field magneto-conductivity (MC) through Hikami Larkin Nagaoka (HLN) formalism. Here, it is worth mentioning that the present article is the first report on magneto transport measurements of Sn2Pd, which show the same to be a topological material with a weak superconducting phase below around 2.8K.