Effect of Ni, Fe Intercalation on the Superconducting Properties of ZrTe3

We report the superconductivity at enhanced temperature of 5.2 K in the polycrystalline sample of ZrTe3 and Ni intercalated ZrTe3. ZrTe3 is a Charge Density Wave (T = 63K) compound, which is known to superconduct only below 2K in single crystalline form. We discuss that the intergrain strains in the polycrystalline samples induces an intrinsic pressure and thus enhances the transition temperature. Fe intercalation of ZrTe3 kills both the charge density wave and superconducting states, gives rise to the magnetic ordering in the compound.