Evidence of conventional superconductivity in single-crystalline MgCNi 3

Abstract

Despite the strong expectation for a ferromagnetic ground state in MgCNi3, the real ground state shows superconductivity without any evidence of magnetism. In the electrical transport measurements on single-crystalline MgCNi3, we found that the ferromagnetic spin fluctuation either did not exist or was very suppressed and that MgCNi 3 could be well described by using the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. The evidence for this conclusion is as follows: (1) the normal-state resistivity could be explained by using the electron-phonon scattering model and (2) Hc2(T) near Tc was linear. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.