Specific heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility of superconducting Ba24Si100 Original Research Article

Physical properties of a new superconductor Ba24Si100 crystallographically identical to Ba24Ge100 are studied by electric transport, specific heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The density of states at the Fermi level NEF=0.148 states eV−1 (Si-atom)−1 and a discrete jump of Cp at the superconducting transition temperature ΔCp=0.272 J K−1 mol−1 are obtained. The exponential fit of Cp under the superconducting states gives an energy gap 2Δ=0.423 meV and shows that this is a superconductor having an s-wave character or an isotropic energy gap. On the basis of the experimental data, other important physical parameters are also described.