Pressure‐Induced Metallization and Robust Superconductivity in Pristine 1 T ‐SnSe 2

• Published in: Advanced electronic materials Vol. 4; no. 8
• Main Authors: Zhou, Yonghui, Zhang, Bowen, Chen, Xuliang, Gu, Chuanchuan, An, Chao, Zhou, Ying, Cai, Kaiming, Yuan, Yifang, Chen, Chunhua, Wu, Hao, Zhang, Ranran, Park, Changyong, Xiong, Yimin, Zhang, Xiuwen, Wang, Kaiyou, Yang, Zhaorong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons) 01.08.2018
• ISSN: 2199-160X; 2199-160X
• DOI: 10.1002/aelm.201800155

Abstract Band engineering in layered metal dichalcogenides leads to a variety of physical phenomena and has obtained considerable attention recently. In this work, pressure‐induced metallization and superconductivity in pristine 1 T ‐SnSe 2 is reported via electrical transport and synchrotron X‐ray diffraction experiments. Electrical transport results show that the metallization emerges above 15.2 GPa followed by appearance of superconducting transition at 18.6 GPa. The superconductivity is robust with a nearly constant T c ≈ 6.1 K between 30.1 and 50.3 GPa. High‐pressure synchrotron X‐ray diffraction experiments indicate that the 1 T ‐SnSe 2 phase maintains up to 46.0 GPa. Although the theoretical predicted structural transition and decomposition of SnSe 2 into Sn 3 Se 4 and Se are not detected, it is argued that the structural instability under high pressure might be crucial for the superconductivity. These findings demonstrate that 1 T ‐SnSe 2 is a very rare system from which superconductivity can be driven via multiple ways.