Superconducting and structural properties of the type-I superconductor PdTe2 under high pressure

Abstract

The transition metal dichalcogenide PdTe2 has attractive features based on its classification as a type-II Dirac semimetal and the occurrence of type-I superconductivity, providing a platform for discussion of a topological superconductor. Our recent work revealed that type-I superconductivity persists up to pressures of ∼ 2.5 GPa and the superconducting transition temperature Tc reaches a maximum at around 1 GPa, which is inconsistent with the theoretical prediction. To understand its non-monotonic variation and investigate superconductivity at higher pressures, we performed structural analysis by x-ray diffraction at room temperature below 8 GPa and electrical resistivity measurements at low temperatures from 1 to 8 GPa. With regard to the superconductivity beyond 1 GPa, the monotonic decrease in Tc is reproduced without any noticeable anomalies; Tc changes from 1.8 K at 1 GPa to 0.82 K at 5.5 GPa with dTc/dP ∼ −0.22 K/GPa. The crystal structure with spacegroup P 3m1 is stable in the pressure range we examined. On the other hand, the normalized pressure-strain analysis (finite strain analysis) indicates that the compressibility changes around 1 GPa, suggesting that a Lifshitz transition occurs. We here discuss the effect of pressure on the superconducting and structural properties based on the comparison of these experimental results.