Abstract

High-temperature superconductivity has a range of applications from sensors to energy distribution. Recent reports of this phenomenon in compounds containing electronically active BiS<sub>2</sub> layers have the potential to open a new chapter in the field of superconductivity. Here we report the identification and basic properties of two new ternary Bi–O–S compounds, Bi<sub>2</sub>OS<sub>2</sub> and Bi<sub>3</sub>O<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub>. The former is non-superconducting; the latter likely explains the superconductivity at <i>T</i><sub>c</sub> = 4.5 K previously reported in “Bi<sub>4</sub>O<sub>4</sub>S<sub>3</sub>”. The superconductivity of Bi<sub>3</sub>O<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub> is found to be sensitive to the number of Bi<sub>2</sub>OS<sub>2</sub>-like stacking faults; fewer faults correlate with increases in the Meissner shielding fractions and <i>T</i><sub>c</sub>. Elucidation of the electronic consequences of these stacking faults may be key to the understanding of electronic conductivity and superconductivity which occurs in a nominally valence-precise compound

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