Experimental determination of the Fermi surface ofSr3Ir4Sn13

Abstract

The stannide family of materials A 3 T 4 Sn 13 (A = La,Sr,Ca; T = Ir,Rh) is interesting due to the interplay between a tunable lattice instability and phonon-mediated superconductivity with T c ∼ 5-7 K. In Sr 3 Ir 4 Sn 13 , a structural transition temperature T ∼ 147 K associated with this instability has been reported, which is believed to result from a superlattice distortion of the high-temperature phase on cooling. Here we report an experimental study of the electronic structure of a member of this material family, Sr 3 Ir 4 Sn 13 , through measurements of quantum oscillations and comparison with density functional theory calculations. Our measurements reveal good agreement with theory using the lattice parameters consistent with a body-centered-cubic lattice of symmetry I43d of the low-temperature phase. The study of the fermiology of Sr 3 Ir 4 Sn 13 that we present here should help inform models of multiband superconductivity in the superconducting stannides. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.93.235121 Structural distortions of a crystal lattice can often profoundly influence electronic properties. In materials such as Ca 2 RuO 4 , for instance, tilt and rotations of the RuO 6 octahedra can induce a Mott insulating transition [1,2], while in the iron arsenide materials, modifications of the Fermi surface driven by structural distortions have been shown to play a role in enhancing superconductivity [3,4]. Understanding the subtle interplay between structural degrees of freedom and electronic and magnetic order remains a major research theme in condensed-matter physics.Recent work on members of the stannide superconducting family A 3 T 4 Sn 13 (A = La,Sr,Ca; T = Ir,Rh) [5-13] is proving to be interesting in this context. Studies of Sr 3 Ir 4 Sn 13 have shown that the material undergoes a continuous second-order phase transition at a temperature T * ∼ 147 K, which is observed in a range of transport, spectroscopic, and thermodynamic measurements [14,15]. Upon further cooling, superconductivity emerges with a transition temperature T c = 5 K [6,[16][17][18]. X-ray diffraction measurements suggest that T corresponds to a structural phase transition from the simple cubic I phase (P m3n) to the I phase [5,19], a body-centered-cubic lattice (I43d), with a corresponding doubling of the lattice constant.A remarkable feature of the A 3 T 4 Sn 13 system is its highly tunable nature. Isoelectronic substitution of Sr by Ca has the effect of applying chemical pressure, initially enhancing, then suppressing T c in a domelike fashion, an effect that is also seen by applying hydrostatic pressure [5,7]. At the same time, T is suppressed to zero, leading to a structural quantum phase transition with an associated softening of parts of the phonon spectrum [7]. While there is evidence that the lattice distortion is accompanied by the formation of a charge density wave (CDW) [5,15] which partially gaps out states at the Fermi level [14], there is no evidence of long-range magnetic order. This offers a rare opportunity to study supercondu...

Possible unconventional pairing in $(\text{Ca,Sr})_{3}(\text{Ir,Rh})_{4}\text{Sn}_{13}$ superconductors revealed by controlling disorder

“…The same group discusses multi-band physics from NMR measurements [59]. The possible importance of multi-band effects was further pointed out in an electronic band-structure study where at least four sheets of the Fermi surface in Sr 3 Ir 4 Sn 13 with sizes differing by a factor of nearly 20 were found [60]. Most studies however, including our work, are consistent with a single isotropic gap weak-coupling superconductivity, and it is possible that above mentioned effects originate from the same unconventional pairing that is suggested here.…”

The effective increase in atomic scale disorder by doping and superconductivity in Ca3Rh4Sn13

“…The family of M R 3 4 Sn 13 compounds, where R is an alkali metal or rare earth and M is a transition metal (Ir, Rh, Ru, or Co), was first synthesized by Remeika et al [1]. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest among the condensed matter community due to unusual properties of these materials, characterized by strong electron correlation effects [2], structural phase transitions associated with the Fermi surface reconstruction [3][4][5][6], and superconductivity [7][8][9]. Ca 3 Rh 4 Sn 13 , a member of this skutterudite-related family is a good model material to study the various low-temperature and structural properties.…”

“…In isostructural compound Ca Ir 3 4 Sn T , 13  has been reported much smaller ∼40 K [3]. The structural second order-type transition at T  converts the simple cubic high-temperature structure Pm3n into a body centered cubic structure I4 1 32 [20] with twice the lattice parameters due to the distortion of the Sn1Sn2 12 icosahedra related to a charge transfer from Sn2 toward Sn1 atoms 6 . The most possible scenario for the structural deformation of the La and Ce doped Ca 3 Rh 4 Sn 13 is a charge density wave (CDW) instability, which has been independently singled out by experimental [21] and theoretical [22,23] investigations as a precursor for superconductivity.…”

Strong Coupling Superconductivity in the Vicinity of the Structural Quantum Critical Point in(CaxSr1−x)Yu1, Cheung2, Saines3 et al. 2015Phys. Rev. Lett.Self Cite12891490View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…A large family of superconducting stannides [16,17] with composition A 3 T 4 Sn 13 , where A=La,Sr,Ca and T=Rh,Ir, has recently attracted considerable attention [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. T c in these compounds are typically less than 10 K, and the superconducting gap function is established to be nodeless at the Fermi surface [19][20][21][22].…”