Pressure‐Induced Superconductivity and Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in the Topological Semimetal ZrTe2

Abstract

Abstract Topological transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have attracted much attention due to their potential applications in spintronics and quantum computations. In this work, the structural and electronic properties of topological TMDCs candidate ZrTe2 are systematically investigated under high pressure. A pressure‐induced Lifshitz transition is evidenced by the change of charge carrier type as well as the Fermi surface. Superconductivity is observed at around 8.3 GPa without structural phase transition. A typical dome‐shape phase diagram is obtained with the maximum Tc of 5.6 K for ZrTe2. Furthermore, the theoretical calculations suggest the presence of multiple pressure‐induced topological quantum phase transitions, which coexists with emergence of superconductivity. The results demonstrate that ZrTe2 with nontrivial topology of electronic states displays new ground states upon compression.

Keywords

• high pressure
• superconductivity
• topological materials
• transition metal dichalcogenides