Tuning the pressure-induced superconductivity in Pd-substituted CeRhIn5

The effect of substituting Rh in CeRh1-xPdxIn5 with Pd up to x = 0.25 has been studied on single crystals. The crystals have been grown by means of the In self-flux method and characterized by x-ray diffraction and microprobe. The tetragonal HoCoGa5-type of structure and the c/a ratio of the parent compound remains intact by the Pd substitution; the unit cell volume increases by 0.6 % with x = 0.25 of Pd. The low-temperature behavior of resistivity was studied also under hydrostatic pressure up to 2.25 GPa. The Pd substitution for Rh affects the magnetic behavior and the maximum value of the superconducting transition temperature measured at pressures above 2 GPa only negligibly. On the other hand, the results provide evidence that superconductivity in CeRh0.75Pd0.25In5 is induced at significantly lower pressures, i.e. the Pd substitution for Rh shifts the CeRh1-xPdxIn5 system closer to coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity at ambient pressure.
Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter