Structural phase transition, precursory electronic anomaly and strong-coupling superconductivity in quasi-skutterudite (Sr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$)$_{3}$Ir$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$ and Ca$_{3}$Rh$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$

Abstract

The interplay between superconductivity and structural phase transition has attracted enormous interests in recent years. For example, in Fe-pnictide high temperature superconductors, quantum fluctuations in association with structural phase transition have been proposed to lead to many novel physical properties and even the superconductivity itself. Here we report a finding that the quasi-skutterudite superconductors (Sr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$)$_{3}$Ir$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$ ($x$ = 0, 0.5, 1) and Ca$_{3}$Rh$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$ show some unusual properties similar to the Fe-pnictides, through $^{119}$Sn nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. In (Sr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$)$_{3}$Ir$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$, the NMR linewidth increases below a temperature $T^*$ that is higher than the structural phase transition temperature $T_{\rm s}$. The spin-lattice relaxation rate ($1/T_1$) divided by temperature ($T$), $1/T_1T$, and the Knight shift $K$ increase with decreasing $T$ down to $T^*$, but start to decrease below $T^*$ and followed by more distinct changes at $T_{\rm s}$. In contrast, none of the anomalies was observed in Ca$_{3}$Rh$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$ that does not undergo a structural phase transition. The precursory phenomenon above structural phase transition resembles that occurs in Fe-pnictides. In the superconducting state of Ca$_{3}$Ir$_{4}$Sn$_{13}$, $1/T_{1}$ decays as ${\rm exp}(-Δ/k_{\rm B}T)$ with a large gap $Δ= 2.21 k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c}$, yet without a Hebel-Slichter coherence peak, which indicate strong-coupling superconductivity. Our results provide new insight into the relationship between superconductivity and the electronic-structure change associated with structural phase transition.