Abstract

We report a successful synthesis of a high-purity intermetallic germanide Y2Pd1.25Ge2.75, crystallizing in the disordered variant of the AlB2-type structure. A single-phase sample was obtained via arc-melting by deliberately tuning the composition out of the ideal 2:1:3 ratio. Specific heat, electrical resistivity and magnetization measurements show that the compound is a weakly-coupled (λ e-p = 0.58) type-II superconductor with a superconducting transition at Tc = 2.72 K. Additional magnetization measurements conducted under pressure up to 0.55 GPa show suppression of Tc, at a rate of − 0.17 K/GPa. Electronic structure calculations reveal the deep similarity between Y2Pd1.25Ge2.75 and other AlB2-type germanide superconductors, especially the ordered YGa2 phase.

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