  According to a recent report by Park et al, ZnCNi3 is isostructural and
isovalent to the superconducting (Tc = 8 K) anti-perovskite, MgCNi3, but shows
no indication of a superconducting transition down to 2K. A comparison of
calculated electronic structures shows that the main features of MgCNi3,
particularly the van Hove singularity near the Fermi energy, are preserved in
ZnCNi3. Thus the reported lack of superconductivity in ZnCNi3 is not
explainable in terms of Tc being driven to a very low value by a small Fermi
level density of states. We propose that the lack of superconductivity, the
small value of the linear specific heat coefficient, gamma, and the discrepancy
between theoretical and experimental lattice constants can all be explained if
the material is assumed to be a C-deficient alpha-ZnCNi3 similar to the
analogous non-superconducting phase of MgCNi3.
