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Title: Pressure-Induced Superconductivity in Elemental Ytterbium Metal

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [1]
  1. Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Physics
  2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS); Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Geology

Ytterbium (Yb) metal is divalent and nonmagnetic (4f14 configuration). Under pressure its valence increases significantly leading to the expectation that magnetic instabilities and other highly correlated electron effects may appear before a stable trivalent state is reached (4f13 configuration). We carried out electrical resistivity and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements to 179 GPa over the temperature range 1.4 - 295 K. No evidence for magnetic order is observed. However, Yb becomes a superconductor at 86 GPa with Tc≃1.4 K, increasing to 4.6 K at 179 GPa. X-ray absorption spectroscopy shows that Yb remains mixed-valent to at least 125 GPa, pointing to an active role of $$f$$ electrons in the emergence of superconductivity in this simple, elemental solid.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; FC52-08NA28554
OSTI ID:
1493699
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1461027
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 121; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (1)

High-pressure structure and electronic properties of YbD 2 to 34 GPa journal July 2019