Structural and Superconducting Properties of Bi2Rh3(Se1- xSx)2 (x = 0-1.0)

Inorg Chem. 2024 Nov 11;63(45):21531-21540. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c03637. Epub 2024 Oct 29.

Abstract

The structural and superconducting properties of the Bi-based superconductor Bi2Rh3(Se1-xSx)2 were investigated over a wide pressure range. Bi2Rh3Se2 is a superconductor with a superconducting transition temperature, Tc, of less than ∼1.0 K, whereas Bi2Rh3S2 is a nonsuperconductor. The former shows a clear charge density wave (CDW) phase transition at 240 K and the latter shows a first-order structural phase transition at 165 K, providing the supercell structure. Both compounds have the same crystal structure at ambient temperature and pressure (monoclinic, space group of C2/m (No. 12)). This implies the possible formation of solid solution-like phases Bi2Rh3(Se1-xSx)2. In this study, we prepared Bi2Rh3(Se1-xSx)2 (x = 0-1.0) and investigated its superconducting properties and phase transitions at different x values. Because the superconducting properties and temperature causing the phase transition (Tpt) are quite different between Bi2Rh3Se2 and Bi2Rh3S2, their variation against x is quite intriguing from the viewpoint of the pursuit of physical properties via the replacement of Se with S. In this study, the features of the superconductivity and crystal structure against x were fully explored to depict the phase diagram. Moreover, we investigated the pressure (p) dependence of superconductivity and phase transition (CDW or the first-order structural transition) to clarify the interplay between the two ordered states.