Pressure-induced phonon softening and superconductivity in the topological semimetal ZrP2
Zhuyi Zhang, Xuliang Chen, Shuyang Wang, Chao An, Lili Zhang, Yonghui Zhou, Jian Zhou, Zhaorong Yang
DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.111.174510 · Physical Review B
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Abstract
In this work, we have systematically investigated the structural, vibrational, and electrical transport properties of topological semimetal ZrP2 under pressure using synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, electrical resistance, and Hall-effect measurements, in combination with theoretical calculations. The XRD data show that while no evident structural transitions occur with pressures up to 43.1 GPa, the lattice-parameter ratio (a/b) reveals a diplike anomaly at PC∼25 GPa. Concomitantly, one Raman-active phonon mode (∼113.3 cm−1) becomes increasingly softening with pressure and then beyond PC shows a hardening behavior, at various fixed temperatures from 300 K down to 10 K. This soft mode can be assigned to the A1g mode and refers to ac-plane vibrations of Zr and P atoms with “vortexlike” eigenvectors. Strikingly, superconductivity (SC) was observed to emerge around PC, with the onset critical temperature of ∼0.6 K increasing gradually to ∼1.3 K at the highest measured pressure of 49.5 GPa. In addition, a hole- to electron-dominated carrier-type crossover takes place again around Pc, involving the Fermi-level crossing of higher-energy electron-like pockets along the Γ-Y path. Analysis suggests that the emergence of SC may be triggered by the phonon-softening related enhancement of ionic polarizability. The present system thus can serve as an ideal platform to study the interplay of phonon softening and SC.
Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval
| Formula | Reported Tc (K) | Pressure (GPa) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZrP2 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula. | 0.6 | 25.2 GPa | onset |
| ZrP2 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula. | 1.3 | 49.5 GPa | onset |
| ZrP2-xSex Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula. | 6 | Pressure not reported | unknown |
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