Gu Kemin, Susilo Resta A, Ke Feng, Deng Wen, Wang Yanju, Zhang Lingkong, Xiao Hong, Chen Bin
Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Pudong, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China. Graduate School, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Beijing 100088, People's Republic of China.
J Phys Condens Matter. 2018 Sep 26;30(38):385701. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/aada53. Epub 2018 Aug 15.
We report the superconductivity enhancement of ZrTe on compression up to 33 GPa. The superconducting transition occurs above 4.1 GPa and the superconducting temperature (T ) increases with pressure in further compression, reaching a maximum of 7.1 K at ~28 GPa. An anomalous change of superconducting temperature is seen in the compression above 21 GPa. No structural phase transition is observed in the whole compression up to 36 GPa, but a subtle change in structural parameter is seen between 17-19 GPa, which seems relevant to the anomalous increase in the superconducting temperature. First-principle calculations reveal that the density of states at the Fermi level increases with pressure, which explains the enhancement of T in ZrTe under compression.
