We revealed that the superconducting transition temperature Tc of the multi-component superconductor Sr2RuO4 is enhanced to 3.3 K under in-plane uniaxial pressure that reduces the tetragonal crystal symmetry. This result suggests that new superconducting phases with a one-component order parameter are induced. We have also clarified the inplane pressure direction dependence of the emergence of this higher-Tc superconducting phase: pressure along the [100] direction is more favorable than pressure along the [110] direction. This result is probably closely related to the direct shortening of the in-plane Ru-O bond length along the pressure direction and the approach of the gamma Fermi surface to the van Hove singularity under the pressure parallel to the [100] direction.
In this study, we performed high-pressure electrical resistivity measurements of polycrystalline FeSe in the pressure range of 1-16.0 GPa at temperatures of 4-300 K. A precise evaluation of Tc from zero-resistivity temperatures revealed that Tc shows a slightly distorted dome-shaped curve, with maximum Tc (30 K) at 6 GPa, which is lower than a previously reported Tc value (~37 K). With the application of pressure, the temperature dependence of resistivity above Tc changes dramatically to a linear dependence; a non-Fermi-liquid-like high-Tc phase appears above 3 GPa. We found a striking correlation between Tc and the Se height: the lower the Se height, the more enhanced is Tc. Moreover, this relation is broadly applicable to other iron pnictides, strongly indicating that high-temperature superconductivity can appear only around the optimum anion height (~1.38A). On the basis of these results, we suggest that the anion height should be considered as a key determining factor of Tc of iron-based superconductors containing various anions.
Among the family of TMDs, ReS2 takes a special position, which crystalizes in a unique distorted low-symmetry structure at ambient conditions. The interlayer interaction in ReS2 is rather weak, thus its bulk properties are similar to that of monolayer. However, how does compression change its structure and electronic properties is unknown so far. Here using ab initio crystal structure searching techniques, we explore the high-pressure phase transitions of ReS2 extensively and predict two new high-pressure phases. The ambient pressure phase transforms to a distorted-1T structure at very low pressure and then to a tetragonal I41/amd structure at around 90 GPa. The distorted-1T structure undergoes a semiconductor-metal transition (SMT) at around 70 GPa with a band overlap mechanism. Electron-phonon calculations suggest that the I41/amd structure is superconducting and has a critical superconducting temperature of about 2 K at 100 GPa. We further perform high-pressure electrical resistance measurements up to 102 GPa. Our experiments confirm the SMT and the superconducting phase transition of ReS2 under high pressure. These experimental results are in good agreement with our theoretical predictions.
Low-temperature (T) heat-capacity measurements under hydrostatic pressure of up to p=2.1 GPa have been performed on single-crystalline CeCu2Si2. A broad superconducting (SC) region exists in the T-p phase diagram. In the low-pressure region antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and in the high-pressure region valence fluctuations had previously been proposed to mediate Cooper pairing. We could identify these two distinct SC regions. We found different thermodynamic properties of the SC phase in both regions, supporting the proposal that different mechanisms might be implied in the formation of superconductivity.
We report the magnetoresistance in the novel spin-triplet superconductor UTe2 under pressure close to the critical pressure Pc, where the superconducting phase terminates, for field along the three a, b and c-axes in the orthorhombic structure. The superconducting phase for H // a-axis just below Pc shows a field-reentrant behavior due to the competition with the emergence of magnetic order at low fields. The upper critical field Hc2 for H // c-axis shows a quasi-vertical increase in the H-T phase diagram just below Pc, indicating that superconductivity is reinforced by the strong fluctuations which persist even at high fields above 20T. Increasing pressure leads to the disappearance of superconductivity at zero field with the emergence of magnetic order. Surprisingly, field-induced superconductivity is observed at high fields, where a spin-polarized state is realized due to the suppression of the magnetic ordered phases; the spin-polarized state is favorable for superconductivity, whereas the magnetic ordered phase at low field seems to be unfavorable. The huge Hc2 in the spin-polarized state seems to imply a spin-triplet state. Contrary to the a- and c-axes, no field-reinforcement of superconductivity occurs for magnetic field along the b-axis. We compare the results with the field-reentrant superconductivity above the metamagnetic field, Hm for the field direction tilted by about 30 deg. from b to c-axis at ambient pressure as well as the field-reentrant (-reinforced) superconductivity in ferromagnetic superconductors, URhGe and UCoGe.
We analyze the effects of chemical pressure induced by alkali metal substitution and uniaxial strain on magnetism in the A2Cr3As3 (A = Na, K, Rb, Cs) family of ternary arsenides with quasi-one dimensional structure. Within the framework of the density functional theory, we predict that the non-magnetic phase is very close to a 3D collinear ferrimagnetic state, which realizes in the regime of moderate correlations, such tendency being common to all the members of the family with very small variations due to the different interchain ferromagnetic coupling. We uncover that the stability of such interchain ferromagnetic coupling has a non-monotonic behavior with increasing the cation size, being critically related to the degree of structural distortions which is parametrized by the Cr-As-Cr bonding angles along the chain direction. In particular, we demonstrate that it is boosted in the case of the Rb, in agreement with recent experiments. We also show that uniaxial strain is a viable tool to tune the non-magnetic phase towards an interchain ferromagnetic instability. The modifcation of the shape of the Cr triangles within the unit cell favors the formation of a net magnetization within the chain and of a ferromagnetic coupling among the chains. This study can provide relevant insights about the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism in this class of materials.