Pressure-tuned superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal PdTe

Abstract

We report an unusual evolution of superconductivity (SC) in the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal PdTe with increasing pressure up to $\sim$50 GPa. The compressed PdTe exhibits a sudden reversal in the superconducting transition temperature $T{}_{\mathrm{c}}$, from an initial decrease with pressure to an increase above a critical pressure $P{}_{\mathrm{c}}\approx$ 15 GPa, showing a V-shaped feature composed of SC-I and SC-II phases due to a structural phase transition through $P{}_{\mathrm{c}}$. Subsequently, the $T{}_{\mathrm{c}}$ goes into a plateau around 2.5 K when the pressure is higher than $\sim$32 GPa. In addition, we find the variations of carrier concentrations and mobilities also manifest a similar trend on the pressure response as the $T{}_{\mathrm{c}}$, and the normal-state electronic properties change from the electron-dominated single-band model to two-carrier model after the structural phase transition, implying the close correlation between electronic properties and two SC phases. Our findings establish the SC of PdTe is highly tunable under varying pressures.

7 pages, 5 figures