Superconductivity in non-centrosymmetric BiPd system

Abstract

In this work, we establish the bulk superconductivity of a high quality sample of monoclinic BiPd ($α$-BiPd, space group P2$_1$) below 3.87 K by studying its electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity. We show that it is clean type-II superconductor with moderate electron-phonon coupling and determine its superconducitng and normal state parameters. Although $α$-BiPd is a noncentrosymmetric superconductor with large electronic heat capacity (therefore, large $γ$), the effect of spin-orbit splitting of the electronic bands at the Fermi level is small. This makes little influence on the superconducting properties of $α$-BiPd.

6 pages; 6 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B