Anomalous lattice dynamics of the elemental superconductor niobium
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 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 use IN5 to investigate phonon lifetime effects arising from electron-phonon coupling in Nb over a large swathe of reciprocal space. In addition to providing an important check of the surprising behaviour of the transverse acoustic modes, we will investigate non-Lorentzian lineshapes, and obtain a high-resolution survey of the longitudinal acoustic modes where new features may be expected. These data will be compared with ab initio calculations to be performed by one of the proposers using CASTEP.
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PERRING Toby G; BOOTHROYD Andrew Timothy; BORGER Anine; Sonja Holm-Dahlin; MCMORROW Desmond Francis; OLLIVIER Jacques and REFSON Keith. (2019). Anomalous lattice dynamics of the elemental superconductor niobium. Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.7-01-482
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