Superconductivity in Rh^sub 17^S^sub 15^ and Pd^sub 17^Se^sub 15^: A Comparative Study

The presence of strongly correlated superconductivity in Rh ... S ... has been recently established. In this work we estimate normal and superconducting parameters of a single crystal of Rh ... S ... and compare them with those of a polycrystalline sample of Pd ... Se ... which is reported here for the first time to be a superconductor below 2.2 K. The presence of superconductivity in two iso-structural (space group P m 3 m ) compounds provides an opportunity to understand the strongly correlated superconductivity in Rh ... S ... . We see that large unit volume of Pd ... Se ... and the large separation of Pd-Pd atoms in its structure as compared those in a pure Pd metal lead to the absence of strong correlations in this compound. Finally Pd ... Se ... can be characterized as an intermediate type-II superconductor as opposed to the strongly correlated superconductivity in Rh ... S ... . (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)