Strong-coupling superconductivity of the Heusler-type compound ScAu2Al: Ab-initio studies

Abstract

The ScAu$_2$Al superconducting Heusler-type compound was recently characterized to have the highest critical temperature of $T_c = 5.12$ K and the strongest electron-phonon coupling among the Heusler family. In this work, the electronic structure, phonons, electron-phonon coupling, and superconductivity of ScAu$_2$Al are studied using \textit{ab initio} calculations. The spin-orbit coupling significantly changes the electronic structure removing the van Hove singularity from the vicinity of the Fermi level. In the phonon spectrum, low frequency acoustic modes, additionally softened by the spin-orbit interaction, strongly couple with electrons, leading to the electron-phonon coupling constant $\lambda=1.25$, a record high among Heuslers. The density functional theory for superconductors is then used to analyze superconducting {state in this two-band superconductor}. The effect of spin fluctuations (SF) on superconductivity is also analyzed. The calculated critical temperatures of $T_c = 5.16$ K (4.79 K with SF) agree very well with the experiment, confirming the electron-phonon mechanism of superconductivity and showing a weak spin-fluctuations effect. The superconducting gaps formed on two Fermi surface sheets exhibit moderate anisotropy. Their magnitudes confirm the strong coupling regime, as the reduced average values are $2\Delta_1/k_BT_c \simeq 4.1$ and $2\Delta_2/k_BT_c \simeq 4.3$. Anisotropy of the gaps and large spread in their values significantly affect the calculated quasiparticle density of states.