Interstitial doping induced superconductivity at 15.3 K in Nb5Ge3 compound

It is reported superconductivity in Nb5Ge3C0.3, an interstitial carbide compound. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity, ac-susceptibility, and heat capacity (HC) indicate that a bulk type-II superconductivity appears at TC = 15.3 K. Magneto-resistance measurements suggest an upper critical field of BC2 ∼ 10.6 T and a coherence length of ξ ∼ 55 Å at zero temperature. Neutron diffraction analyzes locate the carbon atoms at the interstitial 2b site of the Mn5Si3 type-structure. Heat capacity data below TC are well described by BCS theory. The size of the jump at TC is in good agreement with the superconducting volume fraction observed in susceptibility measurements. A Debye temperature and Sommerfeld constant were also extracted from heat capacity data as 343 K and 34 mJ/mol K2, respectively.