Calculated Nb superconducting transition temperature under hydrostatic pressure

Abstract

A full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method (FP-LMTO) based linear-response approach is used to calculate the electron-phonon coupling in Nb under hydrostatic pressure. The superconducting transition temperature T_c is calculated using the Eliashberg equation. The calculated T_c agrees nicely with the experimental result at ambient pressure, but the agreement is only fair at high pressures. The T_c measured anomaly at 60–70GPa is understood in terms of the 2.5 order Lifshitz transition and its origin is traced back to the qualitative changes in the Fermi surface topology.

Key Words:

• Nb;
• Superconductivity
• High pressure