Electronic Structure of Sr(Pt;Pd)2Ge2 Superconductors by Ab Initio Calculations

Electronic structures of SrPt Ge-2 (2) and SrPd Ge-2 (2) superconductors have been calculated with the use of the full-potential local-orbital method within the density functional theory. The investigations were focused on analyses of differences between electronic properties of both studied intermetallics that could explain the enhancement of superconducting properties in the former one. The results indicate that the band structures in the vicinity of the Fermi level for both considered compounds are indistinguishable. Meanwhile, the calculated value of the density of states at the Fermi level for SrPt Ge-2 (2) is lower than that of SrPd Ge-2 (2), thus the significantly higher value of T (c) in the Pt-based system should be related to an anomalous enhancement of electron-phonon coupling.