THE SPECIFIC-HEAT OF BA0.6K0.4BIO3 BELOW 2K

We have measured the specific heat C of a polycrystalline sample of th e non-cuprate superconductor Ba0.6K0.4BiO3 (T(c) almost-equal-to 27K) from T = 1.8K down to T = 0.1K. The data could be fitted accurately to the expression C = AT-2 + alphaT(n) + betaT(3) where n= 0.53 +/- 0.10 . The nuclear term (AT-2) is attributed to the presence of a crystalli ne electric field gradient on the Bi nuclei. The residual specific hea t term (alphaT(n)) has also been observed in the low temperature speci fic heat of several cuprate high-T(c) superconductors (0.3 less-than-o r-equal-to n less-than-or-equal-to 1) suggesting a possible common ori gin in all of these systems.