Exceptional type-I superconductivity of the layered silver oxide Ag$_5$Pb$_2$O$_6$

Abstract

We report zero-resistivity transition and the details of magnetic transition of a layered silver oxide Ag$_5$Pb$_2$O$_6$ single crystal, which make definitive evidence of superconductivity in this compound. In the AC susceptibility of a mono-crystal, we observed large supercooling, as well as positive peaks in the real part of the susceptibility indicating the reversibility of magnetic process. These observations reveal that Ag$_5$Pb$_2$O$_6$ is probably the first oxide that shows type-I superconductivity. Evaluation of the superconducting parameters not only gives confirming evidence of type-I superconductivity, but also indicates that it is a dirty-limit superconductor. We also analyze supercooling to determine the upper limit of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter.