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Crystalline-amorphization-recrystallization structural transition and emergent superconductivity in van der Waals semiconductor SiP under compression

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Abstract

van der Waals (vdW) semiconductors have gained significant attention due to their unique physical properties and promising applications, which are embedded within distinct crystallographic symmetries. Here, we report a pressure-induced crystalline-amorphization-recrystallization transition under compression in binary vdW semiconductor SiP. Upon compression to 52 GPa, bulk SiP undergoes a consecutive phase transition from pristine crystalline to amorphous phase, ultimately to recrystallized phase. By employing synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments in conjunction with high-pressure crystal structure searching techniques, we reveal that the recrystallized SiP hosts a tetragonal structure (space group I4mm) and further transforms partially into a cubic phase (space group \(Fm\bar 3m\)). Consistently, electrical transport and alternating-current magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate the presence of three superconducting phases, which are embedded in separate crystallographic symmetries—the amorphous, tetragonal, and cubic structures. Furthermore, a high superconducting transition temperature of 12.3 K is observed in its recovered tetragonal phase during decompression. Our findings uncover a novel phase evolution path and elucidate a pressure-engineered structure-property relationship in vdW semiconductor SiP. These results not only offer a new platform to explore the transformation between different structures and functionalities, but also provide new opportunities for the design and exploration of advanced devices based on vdW materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anhui Key Laboratory of Low-Energy Quantum Materials and Devices, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China

    Chunhua Chen, Zhenyu Ding, Yonghui Zhou, Nixian Qian, Jing Wang, Shuyang Wang, Xuliang Chen, Xiaoping Yang, Mingliang Tian & Zhaorong Yang

  2. Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Zhenyu Ding, Yonghui Zhou, Nixian Qian, Jing Wang, Xuliang Chen, Xiaoping Yang, Mingliang Tian & Zhaorong Yang

  3. Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, China

    Ying Zhou, Chao An, Min Zhang, Mingliang Tian & Zhaorong Yang

  4. Key Laboratory of Material Physics, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Microelectronics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Yifang Yuan

  5. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    Zhaorong Yang

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  1. Chunhua Chen
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yonghui Zhou, Xiaoping Yang or Zhaorong Yang.

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2023YFA1406102, and 2022YFA1602603), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12374049, 12174397, 12204420, 12204004, 12174395, U19A2093, and 12004004), the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (Grant Nos. 2308085MA16, and 2308085QA18), and the Basic Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Based on Major Scientific Infrastructures (Grant No. JZHKYPT-2021-08). Yonghui Zhou was supported by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Grant No. 2020443). A portion of this work was supported by the High Magnetic Field Laboratory of Anhui Province under Contract No. AHHM-FX-2021-03. The high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments were performed at the beamline BL15U1, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

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Crystalline-amorphization-recrystallization structural transition and emergent superconductivity in van der Waals semiconductor SiP under compression

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Chen, C., Ding, Z., Zhou, Y. et al. Crystalline-amorphization-recrystallization structural transition and emergent superconductivity in van der Waals semiconductor SiP under compression. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 67, 258211 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-023-2325-x

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