Study of the new superconducting compound Zr0.97V0.03B2 with point-contact spectroscopy

Abstract

We present a study of the superconducting energy gap performed with point contact spectroscopy in a single crystal of the superconductor Zr0.97V0.03B2. We determined the size and evolution with temperature of the energy gap, the transition temperature in the compound occurs at the onset of T ≈ 9.3 K. The point contact junctions were measured from 1.7 to 20 K. The differential conductance as a function of bias voltage was analyzed with the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model, the evolution of the gap with temperature was compared with the BCS theory, the ratio 2∆(0)/KBTC was of the order of 8.95 indicative of a very strong coupling limit.