ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Anomalous lattice dynamics of the elemental superconductor niobium

Abstract: Phonon lifetimes in BCS superconductors provide information on the details of the electron-phonon coupling mechanism. In 2008 high-resolution neutron inelastic scattering experiments revealed unexpected anomalies in the lifetimes of transverse acoustic modes in the elemental superconductors Pb and Nb. These experiments were performed using a resonant spin-echo technique. To date no quantitative explanation for these anomalies has been forthcoming. Here we propose to exploit the unprecedented high-resolution of LET to investigate phonon lifetimes effects arising from electron-phonon coupling in Nb. In addition to providing an important check of the surprising behaviour of the acoustic modes, our experiments will provide a high-resolution survey of the longitudinal acoustic modes where new features may be expected.

Principal Investigator: Dr Toby Perring
Experimenter: Ms Sonja Holm-Dahlin
Local Contact: Dr David Voneshen
Experimenter: Dr Keith Refson
Experimenter: Professor Des McMorrow
Experimenter: Professor Christian Ruegg
Experimenter: Professor Andrew Boothroyd
Experimenter: Ms Rebecca Fair

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1620467

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1620467

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Toby Perring et al; (2016): Anomalous lattice dynamics of the elemental superconductor niobium, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1620467

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.