Superconductivity in heavy-fermion CeRh2Si2

We report the discovery of a superconducting transition in the heavy-fermion compound CeRh2Si2 under hydrostatic pressure. Superconductivity appears at pressures above about 9 kbar, near the critical pressure required to suppress antiferromagnetic order [T-N(P=0)=36 K]. Onset of superconductivity occurs at a temperature of approximate to 350 mK. Resistivity measurements as a function of held at constant temperature allow us to build an H*-T phase diagram for the onset of superconductivity. A Ginzburg-Landau analysis of the initial slope of the critical field leads to an effective mass of m*/m(0) approximate to 200, supporting the heavy-fermion nature of superconductivity in CeRh,Si,. Magnetic ac susceptibility (chi(ac)) shows a diamagnetic response corresponding to about 1% of perfect diamagnetism. The size of the feature in chi(ac) also is strongly peaked at a pressure of approximate to 9 kbar.