Superconductivity in Pd-Intercalated Ternary Rare-Earth Polychalcogenide NdSeTe₂

We synthesize a set of Pd-doped polycrystalline samples Pd_xNdSeTe₂ and measure their physical properties. Compared with pure NdSeTe₂, the charge density wave (CDW) order is continuously suppressed with the Pd-intercalation. Bulk superconductivity first appears at x = 0.06 with T_c nearly 2.5K, coexisting with a CDW transition at 176K. Further Pd-doping enhances T_c, until it reaches the maximum value 2.84K at x=0.1, meanwhile the CDW transition vanishes. The upper critical field for the optimal doping sample Pd_0.1NdSeTe₂ is determined from the R-H measurement, which is estimated to be 0.6 T. These results provide another kind of ideal compound for studying the interplay between CDW and superconductivity systematically. (paper)