Discovery of Superconductivity and Structural Phase Transition in Heusler Compound HfPd2Sn

Overview

Searching for novel superconductors, in particular those competing with other ordering states, has been at the forefront of condensed matter physics. A new superconductor may attract considerable interests from the community, both on the fundamental pairing mechanism and its potential applications. In this article, we report the discovery of superconductivity and a structural phase transition in the Heusler compound HfPd2Sn. Polycrystals of HfPd2Sn were synthesized by arc-melting. Measurements of resistivity, heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility, using the Physical property measurement system PPMS, reveal a superconducting transition at Tc = 1.4 K and another phase transition around Ts = 90 K. The low-temperature X-ray diffractions (XRD) demonstrate a structural phase transition from the CuMn2Al-type cubic structure to the VRh2Sn-type tetragonal structure upon cooling the system down to Ts = 90 K, below which it shows characteristics of a charge density wave (CDW) order. These findings suggest that HfPd2Sn may represent a new candidate for studying the interplay between superconductivity and structural instability/CDW order.

Awards (1)

• Fourth Award of $500 $500

Competition history

• ISEF 2022 Physics and Astronomy · Entry PHYS025 · Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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