1302.1943 (F. F. Tafti et al.)

Superconductivity in the noncentrosymmetric half-Heusler compound LuPtBi
: A possible topological superconductor    [PDF]

F. F. Tafti, Takenori Fujii, A. Juneau-Fecteau, S. Rene de Cotret, N. Doiron-Leyraud, Atsushi Asamitsu, Louis Taillefer

We report superconductivity in the ternary half-Heusler compound LuPtBi, with Tc = 1.0 K and Hc2 = 1.6 T. The crystal structure of LuPtBi lacks inversion symmetry, hence the material is a noncentrosymmetric superconductor. Magnetotransport data show semimetallic behavior in the normal state, which is evidence for the importance of spin-orbit interaction. Theoretical calculations indicate that the strong spin-orbit interaction in LuPtBi should cause strong band inversion, making this material a promising candidate for 3D topological superconductivity.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.1943