Superconductivity in the new intermetallic compound La3Pd5Si

A new intermetallic compound with the composition La3Pd5Si has been synthesized to the best of our knowledge for the first time. It is found to crystallize in an orthorhombic structure (space group Imma, No. 74, Z=4) with lattice parameters, a=13.1363(11) Å, b=7.4365(5) Å and c=7.6496(6) Å. Electrical resistivity and heat capacity measurements reveal that this compound is superconducting with a transition temperature, Tc, of 1.4 K. The electronic specific heat coefficient, γ, is found to be 13.4(±0.4) mJ/mol K2 per formula unit. The specific heat jump at the superconducting transition is consistent with a weak coupling BCS superconductor.