Superconductivity in the intermetallic compound YRhAl

TL;DR

This study reports superconductivity in the intermetallic compound YRhAl with a transition temperature of 0.9 K, highlighting that structural differences do not significantly affect superconductivity in RRhAl compounds.

Contribution

It is the first to demonstrate superconductivity in YRhAl and suggests structure is not critical for superconductivity in RRhAl series.

Findings

YRhAl is superconducting with Tc = 0.9 K

Specific heat jump aligns with BCS weak-coupling theory

Superconductivity occurs across different structures in RRhAl series

Abstract

The intermetallic compound, YRhAl, has been prepared and is found to be isomorphic with RRhAl (R=Pr, Nd, Gd, Ho and Tm) compounds crystallizing in the orthorhombic TiNiSi-type structure (Space group Pnma). Heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements in the He-3 temperature range reveal that this compound is superconducting with a transition temperature, Tc, of 0.9 K. The electronic specific heat coefficient, gamma, and the Debye temperature are found to be 6.1 mJ/mole K and 197 K, respectively. The specific heat jump at the superconducting transition temperature is found to be consistent with the BCS weak-coupling limit. This combined with the earlier observation of superconductivity in LaRhAl (Tc = 2.4 K) having a different structure than that of YRhAl, suggests that the underlying structure is not very crucial for the occurrence of superconductivity in RRhAl series of compounds.