The influence of electron-phonon coupling and spin fluctuations on the superconductivity of the Ti-V alloys

We report a study of the normal and superconducting state properties of the TixV1−x alloys for x = 0.4, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 with the help of dc magnetization, electrical resistivity and heat capacity measurements along with the electronic structure calculation. The superconducting transition temperature Tc of these alloys is higher than that of elemental Ti and is also higher than elemental V for x ≤ 0.7. The roles of electron density of states, electron-phonon coupling and spin fluctuations in the normal and superconducting state properties of these alloys have been investigated in detail. The experimentally observed value of Tc is found to be considerably lower than that estimated on the basis of electron density of states and electron-phonon coupling in the x = 0.4, 0.6 and 0.7 alloys. There is some evidence as well for the preformed Cooper pair in all these Ti-V alloys in the temperature regime well above Tc. Similar to x = 0.6 [Md. Matin, L.S. Sharath Chandra, R.K. Meena, M.K. Chattopadhyay, A.K. Sinha, M.N. Singh, S.B. Roy, Physica B 436, 20 (2014)], the normal state properties of the x = 0.4 alloy showed the signature of the presence of spin fluctuations. The difference between the experimentally observed Tc and that estimated by considering electron density of states and electron-phonon coupling in the x = 0.4, 0.6 and 0.7 alloys is attributed to the possible influence of these spin fluctuations. We show that the non-monotonous variation of Tc as a function of x in the TixV1−x alloys is due to the combined effects of the electron-phonon coupling and the spin fluctuations