Searching for a higher superconducting transition temperature in strained MgB2 -: art. no. 024509

We present a detailed first-principles density-functional analysis of the effects of lattice strain on the superconducting transition temperature, T-c, of MgB2, deriving a general rule that governs the enhancement (or suppression) of T-c in strained MgB2 in terms of electronic and phonon contributions. Based on the calculated structural, electronic, vibrational, and superconducting properties of a strained MgB2 superconductor, we show how a higher T-c might be achieved. Several candidate substrates are suggested for growing MgB2 thin films to gain a higher T-c.