The effect of spin orbit interaction on the physical properties of LaTSi3 (T = Ir, Pd, and Rh): First-principles calculations

Abstract

We have presented the structural, elastic, electronic, phononic, and electron-phonon interaction properties of the La-based noncentrosymmetric superconductors, such as LaIrSi3, LaRhSi3, and LaPdSi3, by using the generalized gradient approximation of the density functional theory. The calculated elastic constants reveal the mechanical stability of all the studied compounds in their noncentrosymmetric structure, while the lack of inversion symmetry gives rise to lift the degeneracy of their electronic bands, except in the Gamma-Z and X-P directions. The calculated Eliashberg spectral function shows that all phonon branches of these materials couple considerably with electrons, and thus, all of them make contribution to the average electron-phonon coupling parameter lambda. Using the calculated values of lambda and the logarithmically averaged phonon frequency omega(ln), the superconducting critical temperature T-c values for LaIrSi3, LaRhSi3, and LaPdSi3 are estimated to be 0.89, 2.56, and 2.40 K, respectively, which accord very well with their corresponding experimental values of 0.77, 2.16, and 2.60 K. Published by AIP Publishing.