Electrical transport measurements of thin film samples under high hydrostatic pressure.

We present a method to perform electrical measurements of epitaxial films and heterostructures a few nanometers thick under high hydrostatic pressures in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Hydrostatic pressure offers the possibility to tune the rich landscape of properties shown by epitaxial heterostructures, systems in which the combination of different materials, performed with atomic precision, can give rise to properties not present in their individual constituents. Measuring electrical conductivity under hydrostatic pressure in these systems requires a robust method that can address all the challenges: the preparation of the sample with side length and thickness that fits in the DAC setup, a contacting method compatible with liquid media, a gasket insulation that resists high forces, as well as an accurate procedure to place the sample in the pressure chamber. We prove the robustness of the method described by measuring the resistance of a two dimensional electron system buried at the interface between two insulating oxides under hydrostatic conditions up to ∼5 GPa. The setup remains intact until ∼10 GPa, where large pressure gradients affect the two dimensional conductivity.

Plasmons in sodium under pressure: increasing departure from nearly free-electron behavior.

We have measured plasmon energies in Na under high pressure up to 43 GPa using inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS). The momentum-resolved results show clear deviations, growing with increasing pressure, from the predictions for a nearly free-electron metal. Plasmon energy calculations based on first-principles electronic band structures and a quasiclassical plasmon model allow us to identify a pressure-induced increase in the electron-ion interaction and associated changes in the electronic band structure as the origin of these deviations, rather than effects of exchange and correlation. Additional IXS results obtained for K and Rb are addressed briefly.

Superconductivity in SnO: a nonmagnetic analog to Fe-based superconductors?

We discovered that under pressure SnO with α-PbO structure, the same structure as in many Fe-based superconductors, e.g., ß-FeSe, undergoes a transition to a superconducting state for p≳6 GPa with a maximum Tc of 1.4 K at p=9.3 GPa. The pressure dependence of Tc reveals a domelike shape and superconductivity disappears for p≳16 GPa. It is further shown from band structure calculations that SnO under pressure exhibits a Fermi surface topology similar to that reported for some Fe-based superconductors and that the nesting between the hole and electron pockets correlates with the change of Tc as a function of pressure.

Crystal structure and the Mott-Hubbard gap in YTiO(3) at high pressure.

The crystal structure of YTiO(3) at high pressures up to 30 GPa has been investigated by means of synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction (T = 295 K). The variation of the Ti-O bond lengths with pressure evidences a distinct change in the distortion of the TiO(6) octahedra at around 10 GPa, which is discussed in terms of a pressure-driven spatial reorientation of the occupied Ti 3d(t(2g)) orbitals. Mid-infrared synchrotron microspectroscopy has been used to determine quantitatively the pressure-induced reduction of the optical bandgap of YTiO(3), and the results are interpreted on the basis of the structural and possible orbital orientation changes.

Transition from Mott insulator to superconductor in GaNb4Se8 and GaTa4Se8 under high pressure.

Electronic conduction in GaM4Se8 (M=Nb,Ta) compounds with the fcc GaMo4S8-type structure originates from hopping of localized unpaired electrons (S=1 / 2) among widely separated tetrahedral M4 metal clusters. We show that under pressure these systems transform from Mott insulators to a metallic and superconducting state with T(C)=2.9 and 5.8 K at 13 and 11.5 GPa for GaNb4Se8 and GaTa4Se8, respectively. The occurrence of superconductivity is shown to be connected with a pressure-induced decrease of the MSe6 octahedral distortion and simultaneous softening of the phonon associated with M-Se bonds.

Pressure-induced quenching of the Jahn-Teller distortion and insulator-to-metal transition in LaMnO(3).

LaMnO(3) was studied by synchrotron x-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopies, and transport measurements under pressures up to 40 GPa. The cooperative Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion is continuously reduced with increasing pressure. There is strong indication that the JT effect and the concomitant orbital order are completely suppressed above 18 GPa. The system, however, retains its insulating state to approximately 32 GPa, where it undergoes a bandwidth-driven insulator-metal transition. Delocalization of electron states, which suppresses the JT effect but is insufficient to make the system metallic, appears to be a key feature of LaMnO(3) at 20-30 GPa.

Reversible phase transitions in Na2S under pressure: a comparison with the cation array in Na2SO4.

The structural behavior of the antifluorite Na(2)S, disodium sulfide, has been studied under pressure up to 22 GPa by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments in a diamond anvil cell at room temperature. At approximately 7 GPa, Na(2)S undergoes a first phase transition to the orthorhombic anticotunnite (PbCl(2)) structure (Pnma, Z = 4). The lattice parameters at 8.2 GPa are a = 6.707 (5), b = 4.120 (3), c = 8.025 (4) A. At approximately 16 GPa, Na(2)S undergoes a second transition adopting the structure of the Ni(2)In-type (P6(3)/mmc, Z = 2). The lattice parameters at 16.6 GPa are a = 4.376 (18), c = 5.856 (9) A. Both pressure-induced phases have been confirmed by full Rietveld refinements. An inspection of the cation array of Na(2)SO(4) reveals that its Na(2)S subarray is also of the Ni(2)In-type. This feature represents a new example of how the cation arrangements in ternary oxides correspond to the topology of the respective binary compounds. We discuss analogies between the insertion of oxygen and the application of pressure.

New high-pressure phases of lithium.

Lithium is considered a 'simple' metal because, under ordinary conditions of pressure and temperature, the motion of conduction electrons is only weakly perturbed by interactions with the cubic lattice of atomic cores. It was recently predicted that at pressures below 100 GPa, dense Li may undergo several structural transitions, possibly leading to a 'paired-atom' phase with low symmetry and near-insulating properties. Here we report synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements that confirm that Li undergoes pronounced structural changes under pressure. Near 39 GPa, the element transforms from a high-pressure face-centred-cubic phase, through an intermediate rhombohedral modification, to a cubic polymorph with 16 atoms per unit cell. This cubic phase has not been observed previously in any element; unusually, its calculated electronic density of states exhibits a pronounced semimetal-like minimum near the Fermi energy. We present total-energy calculations that provide theoretical support for the observed phase transition sequence. Our calculations indicate a large stability range of the 16-atom cubic phase relative to various other crystal structures tested here.

Polarized raman spectroscopy on isolated single-wall carbon nanotubes.

Polarized micro-Raman spectroscopy has been performed on spatially separated single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in the form of individual nanotubes or thin ropes of only a few SWNTs. Different from bulk samples, the Raman spectra are composed of well-resolved peaks which allow a direct comparison of experimental data with theoretical calculations. Orientation-dependent measurements reveal maximum intensity of all Raman modes when the nanotubes are aligned parallel to the polarization of the incident laser light. The angular dependences clearly deviate from the selection rules predicted by theoretical studies. These differences are attributed to depolarization effects caused by the strongly anisotropic geometry of the nanotubes and to electronic resonance effects for excitation at 633 nm.