Pressure-engineered optical properties and emergent superconductivity in chalcopyrite semiconductor ZnSiP2

• Published in: NPG Asia materials Vol. 13; no. 1
• Main Authors: Yuan, Yifang, Zhu, Xiangde, Zhou, Yonghui, Chen, Xuliang, An, Chao, Zhou, Ying, Zhang, Ranran, Gu, Chuanchuan, Zhang, Lili, Li, Xinjian, Yang, Zhaorong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Nature Publishing Group 12.02.2021
• Subjects: Chalcopyrite; External pressure; Optical properties; Optoelectronics; Phase diagrams; Phase transitions; Photoluminescence; Semiconductors; Silicon; Silicon substrates; Superconductivity
• ISSN: 1884-4049; 1884-4057
• DOI: 10.1038/s41427-021-00285-0

Abstract Chalcopyrite II-IV-V 2 semiconductors are promising materials in nonlinear optical, optoelectronic, and photovoltaic applications. In this work, pressure-tailored optical properties as well as pressure-driven emergent superconductivity in chalcopyrite ZnSiP 2 are reported via photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and electrical transport experiments. During compression, the PL peak energy exhibits a plateau between 1.4 and 8.7 GPa, which is accompanied by a piezochromic transition and correlated with the progressive development of cation disorder. Upon further compression across a phase transition from tetragonal to cubic rock-salt structure, superconductivity with a critical temperature T c  ~ 8.2 K emerges immediately. T c decreases in the range of 24.6–37.1 GPa but inversely increases at higher pressures, thereby exhibiting an unusual V-shaped superconducting phase diagram. These findings present vivid structure–property relationships, which not only offer important clues to optimize the optical and electronic properties, but also provide a new way to use compression to switch between different functionalities.