Abstract
Single crystal synchrotron x-ray diffraction as a function of temperature and pressure has revealed a complex biphase mixture in superconducting FeSe. Based on our experimental results, we construct a phase diagram where structural behavior and superconducting properties of FeSe are found to be correlated. We show that below 6 GPa, where pressure promotes the superconducting critical temperature, the FeSe structure is composed of two-dimensional layers of edge-shared tetrahedra, while above 6 GPa, the superconductivity is strongly suppressed on formation of a new orthorhombic polymorph characterized by a three-dimensional network of face sharing octahedra. Therefore, changes in topology and connectivity of the FeSe structure are found to be detrimental to superconductivity. The previously controversial crystal structure of the high-pressure polymorph of FeSe was unambiguously determined in the present paper. High-pressure FeSe adopts an orthorhombic MnP-type structure (Pnma) which corresponds to a slightly distorted hexagonal NiAs-type arrangement (). The structural transformation from the low- to high-pressure FeSe polymorph is first order in nature and is manifested as antiparallel displacements within the Fe and Se sublattices.
3 More- Received 2 May 2017
- Revised 20 June 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.96.014520
©2017 American Physical Society