Nodal superconductivity and superconducting dome in new layered superconductor Ta4Pd3Te16

Abstract

We measured the low-temperature thermal conductivity of a new layered superconductor with quasi-one-dimensional characteristics, the ternary telluride Ta$_4$Pd$_3$Te$_{16}$ with transition temperature $T_c \approx$ 4.3 K. The significant residual linear term of thermal conductivity in zero magnetic field and its rapid field dependence provide evidences for nodes in the superconducting gap. By measuring resistivity under pressures, we reveal a superconducting dome in the temperature-pressure phase diagram. The existence of gap nodes and superconducting dome suggests unconventional superconductivity in Ta$_4$Pd$_3$Te$_{16}$, which may relate to a charge-density wave instability in this low-dimensional compound.