Upper critical field of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor BiPd

Abstract

The superconducting parameters and upper critical field of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor BiPd have proven contentious. This material is of particular interest because it is a rare example of a 4f -electron-free noncentrosymmetric superconductor of which crystals may be grown and cleaved, enabling surface-sensitive spectroscopies. Here, using bulk probes augmented by tunneling data on defects, we establish that the lower of the previously reported upper critical fields corresponds to the bulk transition. The material behaves as a nearly weak-coupled BCS s-wave superconductor, and we report its superconducting parameters as drawn from the bulk upper critical field. Possible reasons behind the order-of-magnitude discrepancy in the reported upper critical fields are discussed. (c) 2016 American Physical Society