Superconducting properties and electronic structure of NaBi

Abstract

Resistivity, dc magnetization, and heat capacity measurements are reported for superconducting NaBi. Tc, the electronic contribution to the specific heat γ, the ΔCp/γTc ratio, and the Debye temperature are found to be 2.15 K, 3.4 mJ mol−1 K−2, 0.78, and 140 K respectively. The calculated electron–phonon coupling constant (λep = 0.62) implies that NaBi is a moderately coupled superconductor. The upper critical field and coherence length are found to be 250 Oe and 115 nm, respectively. Electronic structure calculations show NaBi to be a good metal, in agreement with the experiments; the px and py orbitals of Bi dominate the electronic states at the Fermi Energy.