Superconducting Properties of BaBi$_{3}$

Abstract

We report the superconducting properties of single crystals of the intermetallic perovskite-related compound BaBi$_{3}$. The superconducting transition temperature ($T_{c}=5.82$~K) was obtained from heat capacity measurements. Using the measured values for the critical fields $H_{c1}, H_{c2}$, and the specific heat $C$, we estimate the thermodynamic critical field $H_{c}$(0), coherence length $ξ$(0), Debye temperature $Θ_{D}$ and coupling constant $λ_{ep}$. $ΔC/γT_{c}$ and $λ_{ep}$ suggest that BaBi$_{3}$ is a moderately coupled superconductor and $γ$ suggests an enhanced density of states at the Fermi level. Electronic band structure calculations show a complex Fermi surface and a moderately high DOS at the Fermi level. Further analysis of the electronic specific heat shows that the superconducting properties are dominated by s-wave gap.