Quest for high Tc in layered structures: the case of LiB
Using electronic structure calculation we study the superconducting properties of the theoretically-devised superconductor MS1-LiB (LiB). We calculate the electron-phonon coupling ($λ=0.62$) and the phonon frequency logarithmic average ($<ω>_{log}=54.6$ meV) and show that the LiB critical temperature is in the range of 10-15 K, despite the frozen-phonon deformation potential being of the same order of MgB$_2$. As a consequence, LiB captures some of the essential physics of MgB$_2$ but (i) the electron-phonon coupling due to $σ$ states is smaller and (ii) the precious contribution of the $π$ carriers to the critical temperature is lacking. We investigate the possible change in $T_c$ that can be induced by doping and pressure and find that these conditions cannot easily increase $T_c$ in LiB.
