Ir 5d-band derived superconductivity in LaIr₃

Area of Science:

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Rhombohedral LaIr3 is a material with potential superconducting properties.
• Understanding its superconducting mechanisms is crucial for developing new superconductors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the superconducting properties of rhombohedral LaIr3.
• To determine the nature of its superconductivity and its underlying mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Susceptibility, resistivity, and heat capacity measurements.
• Muon spin relaxation and rotation (μSR) experiments, including zero-field (ZF) and transverse-field (TF) configurations.

Main Results:

• Superconducting transition observed below 2 K.
• Two successive transitions in heat capacity, with a jump lower than the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) limit.
• TF-μSR indicates fully gapped s-wave superconductivity with a small energy gap, suggesting weak-coupling superconductivity.
• ZF-μSR confirms the preservation of time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting state.

Conclusions:

• LaIr3 is a weak-coupling superconductor with preserved time-reversal symmetry.
• The observed properties provide insights into unconventional superconductivity in rhombohedral materials.