Electrides are unique in the sense that they contain localized anionic electrons in the interstitial regions. Yet they exist with a diversity of chemical compositions, especially under extreme conditions, implying generalized underlying principles for their existence. What is rarely observed is the combination of electride state and superconductivity within the same material, but such behavior would open up a new category of superconductors. Here, we report a hexagonal Nb 5 Ir 3 phase of Mn 5 Si 3 -type structure that falls into this category and extends the electride concept into intermetallics. The confined electrons in the one-dimensional cavities are reflected by the characteristic channel bands in the electronic structure. Filling these free spaces with foreign oxygen atoms serves to engineer the band topology and increase the superconducting transition temperature to 10.5 K in Nb 5 Ir 3 O. Specific heat analysis indicates the appearance of low-lying phonons and two-gap s-wave superconductivity. Strong electron-phonon coupling is revealed to be the pairing glue with an anomalously large ratio between the superconducting gap Δ 0 and T c , 2Δ 0 /k B T c = 6.12. The general rule governing the formation of electrides concerns the structural stability against the cation filling/extraction in the channel site.

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We investigated the physical properties of antiperovskite compound SnCFe3 by comprehensive magnetic measurements. The strong irreversibility is clearly observed from zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetizations. The peaks of ac susceptibility display strong dependences on the frequency and magnetic field. Both the magnetic relaxation effects and related analysis indicate a typical spin-glass (SG) behavior in SnCFe3. The corresponding characteristic parameters are obtained: the freezing temperature T0=20.3 K, the dynamical exponent zν=9.441, and the flipping time τ0=2.42×10−11 s. Furthermore, the Sn deficiency affects significantly the SG behavior and results in a sharp decrease in T0.

We report an enhanced negative giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with larger temperature span in Ni-doped antipervoskite compounds GaCMn3−xNix. The observed GMR can peak at ∼75% (at 85 kOe) and exceed 60% (at 50 kOe) over a temperature span of approximate 110 and 50K for x=0.05 and 0.10, respectively. Compared with the parent GaCMn3, the well-enhanced GMR in Ni-doped samples is suggested to be associated with the partially suppressed antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state, which favors the transition from the high-resistivity AFM state to the low-resistivity canted ferromagnetic state under an external magnetic field.

In this paper, we report the effects of partial substitution of Mn for Cr on the structural, magnetic, and electrical/thermal transport properties of Mn+1AXn phase compounds Cr2−xMnxGaC (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). As a result, the unit cell volume and the thermal conductivity decrease while the resistivity increases with increasing x. Interestingly, the magnetism of Cr2−xMnxGaC changes from the nonmagnetic Cr2GaC (x = 0) to the ferrimagnetic CrMnGaC (x = 1). In order to shed light on the discrepancy observed between Hall coefficient and Seebeck coefficient of Cr2GaC, the electrical conductivity, Hall coefficient, and magnetoresistance are analyzed within a two-band model. Furthermore, an upturn is observed in low-temperature specific heat of Cr2−xMnxGaC, which may be related with the magnetic Mn dopant.

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In this work, crystals FeSe x have been grown by flux approach. The crystallization process is divided into two stages. First, stoichiometric polycrystal FeSe 0.82 were sintered in a solid state reaction. Then, FeSe x crystals with a size about 500μm have been successfully grown in evacuated sealed quartz tube using a NaCl/KCl flux. The products include two crystal structures of tetragon and hexagon. The electronic transport and magnetic properties measurements of FeSe x crystal exhibit a superconducting transition at about 10K.

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