Topological Dirac line nodes and superconductivity coexist in SnSe at high pressure

Xuliang Chen, Pengchao Lu, Xuefei Wang, Yonghui Zhou, Chao An, Ying Zhou, Cong Xian, Hao Gao, Zhaopeng Guo, Changyong Park, Binyang Hou, Kunling Peng, Xiaoyuan Zhou, Jian Sun, Yimin Xiong, Zhaorong Yang, Dingyu Xing, and Yuheng Zhang
Phys. Rev. B 96, 165123 – Published 12 October 2017
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Abstract

We report on the discovery of a pressure-induced topological and superconducting phase of SnSe, a material which attracts much attention recently due to its superior thermoelectric properties. In situ high-pressure electrical transport and synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements show that the superconductivity emerges along with the formation of a CsCl-type structural phase of SnSe above around 27 GPa, with a maximum critical temperature of 3.2 K at 39 GPa. Based on ab initio calculations, this CsCl-type SnSe is predicted to be a Dirac line-node (DLN) semimetal in the absence of spin-orbit coupling, whose DLN states are protected by the coexistence of time-reversal and inversion symmetries. These results make CsCl-type SnSe an interesting model platform with simple crystal symmetry to study the interplay of topological physics and superconductivity.

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  • Received 17 March 2017
  • Revised 23 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.96.165123

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Xuliang Chen1, Pengchao Lu2, Xuefei Wang1, Yonghui Zhou1, Chao An1, Ying Zhou1, Cong Xian1, Hao Gao2, Zhaopeng Guo2, Changyong Park3, Binyang Hou3, Kunling Peng4, Xiaoyuan Zhou4, Jian Sun2,5,*, Yimin Xiong1,5,†, Zhaorong Yang1,5,6,‡, Dingyu Xing2,5, and Yuheng Zhang1,5

  • 1Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics at Extreme Conditions, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
  • 2National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 3HPCAT, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 4College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China
  • 5Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 6Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China

  • *jiansun@nju.edu.cn
  • yxiong@hmfl.ac.cn
  • zryang@issp.ac.cn

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 16 — 15 October 2017

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