Superconducting parameters of BaPt(4-x)Au(x)Ge12 filled skutterudite

Abstract

We report on a study of the superconducting properties for a series of polycrystalline BaPt(4-x)Au(x)Ge12 filled skutterudite compounds for x = 0, 0.5, 0.75, and 1. Muon spin rotation (muSR) spectroscopy as well as magnetization, specific heat, and electrical resistivity measurements were performed. The magnetic penetration depth \lambda, the coherence length \xi, and the Ginzburg-Landau parameter \kappa are evaluated. The temperature dependence of the superfluid density is well described by an s-wave superconducting gap and this classical scenario is supported by the field-independent \lambda. The gap-to-Tc ratio \Delta/kTc increases with the Au content from 1.70 for x = 0 to 2.1(1) for x = 1. By combining muSR, magnetization, and specific heat data, we find that BaPt(4-x)Au(x)Ge12 compounds are in between the dirty and clean limits with mean free paths of the carriers l ~ \xi. Interestingly, resistivity data for BaPt4Ge12 indicate a much higher upper critical field, which is probably due to defects or impurities close to the surface of the crystallites.