Pressure-induced superconductivity in topological parent compound Bi2Te3

Journal Article · Tue Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1014085108· OSTI ID:1065553

Zhang, J. L. ^[1]; Zhang, S. J. ^[2]; Weng, H. M. ^[2]; Zhang, W. ^[2]; Yang, L. X. ^[2]; Liu, Q. Q. ^[2]; Feng, S. M. ^[2]; Wang, X. C. ^[2]; Yu, R. C. ^[2]; Cao, L. Z. ^[3]; Wang, L. ^[4]; Yang, W. G. ^[4]; Liu, H. Z. ^[5]; Zhao, W. Y. ^[6]; Zhang, S. C. ^[7]; Dai, X. ^[2]; Fang, Z. ^[2]; Jin, C. Q. ^[2]

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1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Beijing National Lab. for Condensed Matter Physics (BNLCP-CAS); Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China)
2. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Beijing National Lab. for Condensed Matter Physics (BNLCP-CAS)
3. Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China)
4. Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Argonne, IL (United States). Geophysical Lab., High Pressure Synergetic Consortium (HPSync)
5. Harbin Inst. of Technology, Harbin (China). Natural Science Research Center
6. Wuhan Univ. of Technology (China). State Key Lab. of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing
7. Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). Center for Advanced Studies

We report a successful observation of pressure-induced superconductivity in a topological compound Bi₂Te₃ with T_c of ~3 K between 3 to 6 GPa. The combined high-pressure structure investigations with synchrotron radiation indicated that the superconductivity occurred at the ambient phase without crystal structure phase transition. The Hall effects measurements indicated the hole-type carrier in the pressure-induced superconducting Bi₂Te₃ single crystal. Consequently, the first-principles calculations based on the structural data obtained by the Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction patterns at high pressure showed that the electronic structure under pressure remained topologically nontrivial. The results suggested that topological superconductivity can be realized in Bi₂Te₃ due to the proximity effect between superconducting bulk states and Dirac-type surface states. We also discuss the possibility that the bulk state could be a topological superconductor.

• Research Organization: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Energy Frontier Research in Extreme Environments (EFree)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0001057
• OSTI ID: 1065553
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 108, Issue 1; Related Information: EFree partners with Carnegie Institution of Washington (lead); California Institute of Technology; Colorado School of Mines; Cornell University; Lehigh University; Pennsylvania State University; ISSN 0027-8424
• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
catalysis (heterogeneous)
solar (photovoltaic)
phonons
thermoelectric
energy storage (including batteries and capacitors)
hydrogen and fuel cells
superconductivity
charge transport
mesostructured materials
materials and chemistry by design
synthesis (novel materials)