Emergence of High-Temperature Superconducting Phase in Pressurized La3Ni2O7 Crystals

Abstract

The recent report of pressure-induced structural transition and signature of superconductivity with T c ≈ 80 K above 14 GPa in La3Ni2O7 crystals has garnered considerable attention. To further elaborate this discovery, we carried out comprehensive resistance measurements on La3Ni2O7 crystals grown in an optical-image floating zone furnace under oxygen pressure (15 bar) using a diamond anvil cell (DAC) and cubic anvil cell (CAC), which employ a solid (KBr) and liquid (glycerol) pressure-transmitting medium, respectively. Sample 1 measured in the DAC exhibits a semiconducting-like behavior with large resistance at low pressures and gradually becomes metallic upon compression. At pressures P ⩾ 13.7 GPa we observed the appearance of a resistance drop of as much as ∼ 50% around 70 K, which evolves into a kink-like anomaly at pressures above 40 GPa and shifts to lower temperatures gradually with increasing magnetic field. These observations are consistent with the recent report mentioned above. On the other hand, sample 2 measured in the CAC retains metallic behavior in the investigated pressure range up to 15 GPa. The hump-like anomaly in resistance around ∼ 130 K at ambient pressure disappears at P ⩾ 2 GPa. In the pressure range of 11–15 GPa we observed the gradual development of a shoulder-like anomaly in resistance at low temperatures, which evolves into a pronounced drop of resistance of 98% below 62 K at 15 GPa, reaching a temperature-independent resistance of 20 μΩ below 20 K. Similarly, this resistance anomaly can be progressively shifted to lower temperatures by applying external magnetic fields, resembling a typical superconducting transition. Measurements on sample 3 in the CAC reproduce the resistance drop at pressures above 10 GPa and realize zero resistance below 10 K at 15 GPa even though an unusual semiconducting-like behavior is retained in the normal state. Based on these results, we constructed a dome-shaped superconducting phase diagram and discuss some issues regarding the sample-dependent behaviors on pressure-induced high-temperature superconductivity in the La3Ni2O7 crystals.