Superconductivity at 5.4 K in β -Bi 2 Pd
Yoshinori Imai, Fuyuki Nabeshima, Taiki Yoshinaka, Kosuke Miyatani, Ryusuke Kondo, Seiki Komiya, Ichiro Tsukada, Atsutaka Maeda
Abstract
We investigate bulk superconductivity in a high-quality single crystal of Bi
2
Pd (
β
-Bi
2
Pd, space group; I4/mmm) at temperatures less than 5.4 K by exploring its electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity shows convex-upward behaviors at temperatures greater than 40-50 K, which can be explained by a parallel-resistor model. In addition, we demonstrate that this material is a multiple-band/multiple-gap superconductor based on the temperature dependences of the specific heat and the upper critical field.