The physical properties and structural evolution of the 122-type solid
solution BaNi2(Ge1-xPx)2 are reported. The in-plane X-X (X = Ge1-xPx) dimer
formation present in the end member BaNi2Ge2, which results in a structural
transition to orthorhombic symmetry, is completely suppressed to zero
temperature on P substitution near x = 0.7, and a dome-shape superconducting
phase with a maximum Tc = 2.9 K emerges. Clear indications of phonon softening
and enhanced electron-phonon coupling are observed at the composition of the
structural instability. Our findings show that dimer breaking offers new
possibilities as a tuning parameter of superconductivity.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure