https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-025-01076-0
Topical Review - Solid State and Materials
Ternary equiatomic intermetallic superconductors: structures, pairing mechanisms, and emerging phenomena
Department of Physics, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Belur Math, 711202, Howrah, West Bengal, India
a
amitava.bhattacharyya.rkmveri@gmail.com
Received:
3
April
2025
Accepted:
20
October
2025
Published online:
4
November
2025
Ternary equiatomic intermetallic superconductors exhibit a striking range of superconducting behaviors, offering insights into the interplay of crystal structure, spin–orbit coupling (SOC), and electronic interactions. While 111-based systems such as ZrRuAs and HfRuP show conventional s-wave pairing, compounds like TaRuSi and NbRuSi suggest unconventional, potentially spin-triplet states. Multiband effects are common, with centrosymmetric versus non-centrosymmetric lattices critically influencing pairing mechanisms. In non-centrosymmetric systems, antisymmetric SOC mixes singlet and triplet channels, and strong SOC in 4d and 5d metals opens a pathway to topological superconductivity. Observations of time-reversal symmetry breaking and anomalous upper critical fields indicate complex order parameters beyond BCS theory. This review synthesizes current understanding, highlighting how structural and electronic diversity generates superconducting states from fully gapped to potentially topological, providing a framework for both fundamental studies and the discovery of novel quantum materials.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
