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From weak- to strong-coupling superconductivity in the AlB2 -type solid solution SrGa1−xAlx Ge with honeycomb layers

Published inJournal of physics. Condensed matter, vol. 37, no. 4, 045704
Publication date2025-01-27
First online date2024-11-12
Abstract

We report on the structure and the superconducting properties of 9-electron 111 compounds with honeycomb layers, namely SrGaGe, SrAlGe, and the SrGa1-xAl x Ge solid solution. By means of single-crystal x-ray diffraction we show that, on one hand, SrGaGe crystallizes into the centrosymmetricP 6/mmm space group (a = 4.2555(2) Å,c = 4.7288(2) Å) with statistical disorder in the [GaGe]62-honeycomb layers. On the other hand, we confirm that SrAlGe crystallizes in a non-centrosymmetric space group, namelyPm2 (a = 4.2942(1) Å,c = 4.7200(2) Å) with fully ordered [AlGe]62-honeycomb layers. By using magnetization and specific heat measurements, we show that the superconducting properties of SrGaGe and SrAlGe differ significantly from each other. SrGaGe is a superconductor with a critical temperature ofTc= 2.6 K falling into the weak coupling limit, while SrAlGe has aTc= 6.7 K and can be classified in the strong coupling limit. By realizing the SrGa1-xAl x Ge solid solution, we were able to investigate the transition between the different crystal structures as well as the evolution of the electronic properties. We show that the transition from the weak-to strong-coupling superconductivity in this system is likely associated with the disorder-to-order transition of the honeycomb layer, along with the loss of the inversion center in the crystal structure.

Keywords
  • Disorder
  • Honeycomb layers
  • Non-centrosymmetric superconductors
  • Superconductivity
Research groups
Citation (ISO format)
WALICKA, Dorota Iwona et al. From weak- to strong-coupling superconductivity in the AlB2 -type solid solution SrGa1−xAlx Ge with honeycomb layers. In: Journal of physics. Condensed matter, 2025, vol. 37, n° 4, p. 045704. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ad8c0b
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Article (Accepted version)
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0953-8984
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