X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Magnetotransport and Magnetisation Study of Nb 2 PdS 5 Superconductor

In the present report, we investigate various properties of the Nb2PdS5 superconductor. Scanning electron microscopy displayed slabs like laminar growth of Nb2PdS5 while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy exhibited the hybridisation of sulphur (2p) with both palladium (3d) and niobium (3d). High-field (140 kOe) magneto-transport measurements revealed that superconductivity (\(T_{c}^{\text {onset}} = 7\) K and T cρ= 0 = 6.2 K) of the studied Nb2PdS5 material is quite robust against magnetic field with the upper critical field (H c2) outside the Pauli paramagnetic limit. Thermally activated flux flow (TAFF) of the compound showed that resistivity curves follow Arrhenius behaviour. The activation energy for Nb2PdS5 is found to decrease from 15.15 meV at 10 kOe to 2.35 meV at 140 kOe. Seemingly, the single vortex pinning is dominant in low-field regions, while collective pinning is dominant in high-field region. The temperature dependence of AC susceptibility confirmed the T c at 6 K, further varying amplitude and frequency, showed well-coupled granular nature of superconductivity. The lower critical field (H c1) is extracted from DC magnetisation measurements at various T below T c. It is found that H c1(T) of Nb2PdS5 material seemingly follows the multiband nature of superconductivity.