Abstract
Discovery of quaternary borocarbide superconductors is an exciting event in superconductivity. Coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism in the newly discovered quaternary borocarbides takes place at temperatures much higher than observed before, which makes these materials ideal for investigating phenomena associated with interplay of magnetism and superconductivity. T c of RENi 2B 2C (REDy, Er, Ho and Tm) follows nearly the de Gennes scaling despite the fact that RE-moments are correlated at T > ∼ T c. Superconductivity sets in a magnetically ordered lattice in DyNi 2B 2C, T c ∼ 6 K and T N ∼ 11 K. It is an ideal material to look for gapless superconductivity in a superconducting antiferromagnet, a phenomenon not observed so far. We suggest some other materials of this kind. In YbNi 2B 2C no superconductivity is observed down to 2 K, though T c is expected to be high (>10K). γ ∼ 200 mJ/mol K 2 suggests the formation of a heavy fermion state in YbNi 2B 2C. We comment on the possibility of Ni-atoms carrying a moment. A conjecture that the borocarbides may be electron-doped Mott insulators is relevant in this regard.
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