The β-Bi 2 Pd compound has been proposed as another example of a multigap superconductor [Imai et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 81, 113708 (2012)]. Here, we report on measurements of several important physical quantities capable of showing a presence of multiple energy gaps on our superconducting single crystals of β-Bi 2 Pd with the critical temperature T c close to 5 K. The calorimetric study via a sensitive ac technique shows a sharp anomaly at the superconducting transition, however only a single energy gap is detected. Also other characteristics inferred from calorimetric measurements as the field dependence of the Sommerfeld coefficient and the temperature and angular dependence of the upper critical magnetic field point unequivocally to standard single s-wave gap superconductivity. The Hall-probe magnetometry provides the same result from the analysis of the temperature dependence of the lower critical field. A single-gapped BCS density of states is detected by the scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. Then, the bulk as well as the surface sensitive probes evidence a standard conventional superconductivity in this system where the topologically protected surface states have been recently detected by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy [Sakano et al., Nat. Commun. 6, 8595 (2015).].

No abstract

The study focused on object formation in (100) InP by etching in 3HCl:1H3PO4 through convex and concave square mask patterns of varied orientation and size. Their upper right-hand-side corners were aligned to , and to 15°, 30° and 45° off to . Some -oriented convex squares had - and -oriented corners compensated with rectangular extensions. The concave patterns led to objects with ordinary slow-etching or etch-stop facets along sides in line within and with ordinary and re-entrant facets along sides in line within . The convex patterns (, 15° and 30°) led to objects initially confined by fast-etching facets at corners and slow-etching or etch-stop facets at sides (ordinary between and , and re-entrant between and ). The side facets were eliminated by the progress of the corner ones. They (-oriented patterns) proceeded at rates almost independent of size before the eradication of the side facets, after which they proceeded faster. The -oriented convex patterns led to objects confined only by fast-etching facets. The objects developed at rates that considerably depended on pattern size and etching time. Objects under small patterns developed faster compared to those under large ones. The -oriented corner-compensated patterns led to pyramidal objects confined by facets related to (110), , (101) and .

No abstract