Structural phase transition and superconductivity hierarchy in 1T-TaS2 under pressure up to 100 GPa

Abstract

Abstract The adoption of high pressure not only reinforces the comprehension of the structure and exotic electronic states of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) but also promotes the discovery of intriguing phenomena. Here, 1T-TaS2 was investigated up to 100 GPa, and re-enhanced superconductivity was found with structural phase transitions. The discovered I4/mmm TaS2 presents strong electron–phonon coupling, revealing a good superconductivity of the nonlayered structure. The P–T phase diagram shows a dome shape centered at ~20 GPa, which is attributed to the distortion of the 1T structure. Accompanied by the transition to nonlayered structure above 44.5 GPa, the superconducting critical temperature shows an increasing trend and reaches ~7 K at the highest studied pressure, presenting superior superconductivity compared to the original layered structure. It is unexpected that the pressure-induced re-enhanced superconductivity was observed in TMDs, and the transition from a superconductor with complicated electron-pairing mechanism to a phonon-mediated superconductor would expand the field of pressure-modified superconductivity.