Creation, stabilization, and investigation at ambient pressure of pressure- induced superconductivity in Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Deng, Liangzi; Wang, Busheng; Halbert, Clayton; Schulze, Daniel J.; Gooch, Melissa; Bontke, Trevor; Kuo, Ting-Wei; Shi, Xin; Song, Shaowei; Salke, Nilesh; Yang, Hung- Duen; Ren, Zhifeng; Hemley, Russell J.; Zurek, Eva; Prasankumar, Rohit P.; Chu, Ching- Wu
• 署名单位: University of Houston System; University of Houston; University of Houston System; University of Houston; State University of New York (SUNY) System; University at Buffalo, SUNY; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Chicago Hospital; National Sun Yat Sen University; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Chicago Hospital; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Chicago Hospital; Intellectual Ventures
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-11776
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.242310212
• 发表日期: 2025-02-11
• 关键词: transition

摘要

In light of breakthroughs in superconductivity under high pressure, and considering that record critical temperatures (Tcs) across various systems have been achieved under high pressure, the primary challenge for higher T-c should no longer solely be to increase T-c under extreme conditions but also to reduce, or ideally eliminate, the need for applied pressure in retaining pressure-induced or -enhanced superconductivity. The topological semiconductor Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 (BST) was chosen to demonstrate our approach to addressing this challenge and exploring its intriguing physics. Under pressures up to similar to 50 GPa, three superconducting phases (BST-I, -II, and -III) were observed. A superconducting phase in BST-I appears at similar to 4 GPa, without a structural transition, suggesting the possible topological nature of this phase. Using the pressure-quench protocol (PQP) recently developed by us, we successfully retained this pressure-induced phase at ambi-ent pressure and revealed the bulk nature of the state. Significantly, this demonstrates recovery of a pressure-quenched sample from a diamond anvil cell at room temperature with the pressure-induced phase retained at ambient pressure. Other superconducting phases were retained in BST-II and -III at ambient pressure and subjected to thermal and temporal stability testing. Superconductivity was also found in BST with T-c up to 10.2 K, the record for this compound series. While PQP maintains superconducting phases in BST at ambient pressure, both depressurization and PQP enhance its T-c, possibly due to microstructures formed during these processes, offering an added avenue to raise T-c. These findings are supported by our density-functional theory calculations.