High-pressure superconducting phase diagram of 6Li: isotope effects in dense lithium.

We measured the superconducting transition temperature of (6)Li between 16 and 26 GPa, and report the lightest system to exhibit superconductivity to date. The superconducting phase diagram of (6)Li is compared with that of (7)Li through simultaneous measurement in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Below 21 GPa, Li exhibits a direct (the superconducting coefficient, α, T(c) proportional M(-α), is positive), but unusually large isotope effect, whereas between 21 and 26 GPa, lithium shows an inverse superconducting isotope effect. The unusual dependence of the superconducting phase diagram of lithium on its atomic mass opens up the question of whether the lattice quantum dynamic effects dominate the low-temperature properties of dense lithium.

High pressure melting of lithium.

The melting curve of lithium between ambient pressure and 64 GPa is measured by detection of an abrupt change in its electrical resistivity at melting and by visual observation. Here we have used a quasi-four-point resistance measurement in a diamond anvil cell and measured the resistance of lithium as it goes through melting. The resistivity near melting exhibits a well documented sharp increase which allowed us to pinpoint the melting transition from ambient pressure to 64 GPa. Our data show that lithium melts clearly above 300 K in all pressure regions and its melting behavior adheres to the classical model. Moreover, we observed an abrupt increase in the slope of the melting curve around 10 GPa. The onset of this increase fits well to the linear extrapolation of the lower temperature bcc-fcc phase boundary.

Boundaries for martensitic transition of (7)Li under pressure.

Physical properties of lithium under extreme pressures continuously reveal unexpected features. These include a sequence of structural transitions to lower symmetry phases, metal-insulator-metal transition, superconductivity with one of the highest elemental transition temperatures, and a maximum followed by a minimum in its melting line. The instability of the bcc structure of lithium is well established by the presence of a temperature-driven martensitic phase transition. The boundaries of this phase, however, have not been previously explored above 3 GPa. All higher pressure phase boundaries are either extrapolations or inferred based on indirect evidence. Here we explore the pressure dependence of the martensitic transition of lithium up to 7 GPa using a combination of neutron and X-ray scattering. We find a rather unexpected deviation from the extrapolated boundaries of the hR3 phase of lithium. Furthermore, there is evidence that, above ∼3 GPa, once in fcc phase, lithium does not undergo a martensitic transition.

Twin sample chamber for simultaneous comparative transport measurements in a diamond anvil cell.

In static high pressure experiments, performed within a diamond anvil cell (DAC), several different methods of thermometry may be employed to determine the temperature of the sample. Due to different DAC designs or particular experimental designs or goals, uncertainties in the determination of the temperature of a given sample exist. To overcome the inaccuracy in comparing the temperature dependence of transport properties of different materials at high pressure, we have used a novel design of resistivity measurement in a twin sample chamber built on an insulated gasket in a DAC. In this design, the transport properties of two samples will be measured simultaneously and therefore the two samples will always be in the same relative temperatures. The uncertainties in the temperatures of the two samples will be exactly the same and therefore their relative phase diagram will be compared precisely. The pressures of the chambers can be slightly different and is easily determined by the ruby pieces placed in each chamber. To demonstrate the feasibility of this method we have compared the superconducting properties of two YBa2Cu3O(7-x) (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.65) samples with slightly different superconducting transition temperatures at ambient pressure as a function of pressures up to 11 GPa. The upper limit of the pressure achieved using this design would be lower than single chamber gaskets. The highest achievable pressure, as in a conventional single hole setup, depends upon the thickness of the gasket, the culet size, the size, and symmetry of the sample chamber. For the twin chamber, it also depends upon the separation of the holes from each other as well as from the edge of the culet.

Superconductivity of BaLi4 under pressure.

We studied the pressure-induced superconductivity of BaLi4 up to 53 GPa by means of electrical resistivity in a diamond anvil cell. Superconductivity in BaLi4 is first observed at a pressure of 5.4 GPa with a superconducting critical temperature (Tc) of 4.5 K. Below 2 GPa, superconductivity is not observed above the minimum temperature achievable in the current study, 2 K. Between 5.4 and 12 GPa, the Tc increases steeply to its maximum value of 7 K. Above 12 GPa, the pressure dependence of Tc is complex and the sign of dTc/dP changes several times in going up to the maximum pressure studied, of 53 GPa.