Abstract
LaSb has attracted intense interest due to the recent discovery of its extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) and controversial topology states. Motivated by the existing structural phase transition and the possible topological phase transition, the electrical transport properties of a LaSb single crystal under pressure up to 35 GPa were investigated. Superconductivity appears at 10.8 GPa, and the critical temperature () rapidly reaches a maximum of 5.3 K at 13.7 GPa and then linearly decreases with further loading pressure, which can be represented by a typical dome-shaped superconducting phase diagram. The superconductivity is believed to originate from the significant increase of the density of states near the Fermi level , which is induced by the volume collapse due to the structural transition from cubic to tetragonal at approximately 10.8 GPa. This result has inspired systematic studies of the (Ln = lanthanide and , As, Sb, Bi) family under high pressure, especially superconductivity investigations.
- Received 30 November 2019
- Accepted 3 February 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.064106
©2020 American Physical Society