High pressure effects on the intermetallic superconductor Ti$_{0.85}$Pd$_{0.15}$

Abstract

This work reports superconductivity studies in the intermetallic Ti$_{0.85}$Pd$_{0.15}$ performed in normal conditions and under hydrostatic pressure. The crystal structure of the compound has a body centered cubic at room temperature and atmospheric pressure as unstable $\beta$-Ti phase. X-Ray diffraction pattern shows space group $Im\bar{3}m$ with parameter $a=3.2226(4)$ \AA and density around 5.6242 g/cm$^{3}$. The superconducting transition temperature, T$_{C}=3.7$ K was determined from resistance, magnetization, and specific heat measurements. The two critical magnetic fields, the coherence length, Ginzburg-Landau parameter, London penetration depth, the superconducting energy gap, the Debye temperature, the electron-phonon coupling constant and density of states at the Fermi level were calculated. These parameters were obtained at ambient pressure. Under hydrostatic pressure, the magnetic susceptibility measurements show a small increment on T$_{C}$, the maximum T$_{C}=3.83$ K was obtained at the maximum applied pressure of 1.03 GPa. The slope calculated for T$_{C}$ as a linear function of pressure was about 0.14 K/GPa, possibly associated with an increase in the electronic density of states.