Deng Wen, Zhen Jiapeng, Huang Qiushi, Wang Yanju, Dong Hongliang, Wan Shun, Zhang Shihui, Feng Jiajia, Chen Bin
Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Beijing 100094, People's Republic of China.
Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100093, People's Republic of China.
J Phys Chem Lett. 2022 Jun 23;13(24):5514-5521. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c01266. Epub 2022 Jun 13.
The TaAs family (NbAs, TaAs, NbP, TaP) are kinds of Weyl semimetals with lots of novel properties, thus attracting considerable attention in recent years. Here, we systematically studied the Weyl semimetal NbP up to 72 GPa through the resistivity, Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction measurements, and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A pressure-induced semimetal-metal transition was observed at ∼36 GPa, which was further confirmed by the DFT calculations. With further compression up to 52 GPa, a superconducting state was observed. Interestingly, the increases significantly upon decompression and shows a dome-shaped trend as a function of pressure. Surprisingly, the pressure-induced superconductivity can be quenched to ambient pressure, and all transitions under pressure do not involve any structural change. Our work not only depicts a phase diagram of the NbP system under high pressure but also provides a new experimental insight for superconductivity in Weyl semimetals.
TaAs族（NbAs、TaAs、NbP、TaP）是具有许多新奇特性的一类外尔半金属，因此近年来备受关注。在此，我们通过电阻率、拉曼光谱、X射线衍射测量以及第一性原理密度泛函理论（DFT）计算，对高达72吉帕压力下的外尔半金属NbP进行了系统研究。在约36吉帕时观察到了压力诱导的半金属-金属转变，DFT计算进一步证实了这一转变。随着进一步压缩至52吉帕，观察到了超导态。有趣的是，在减压时显著增加，并呈现出随压力变化的圆顶状趋势。令人惊讶的是，压力诱导的超导性可以被淬灭至常压，并且压力下的所有转变都不涉及任何结构变化。我们的工作不仅描绘了NbP体系在高压下的相图，还为外尔半金属中的超导性提供了新的实验见解。
