Crystalline-amorphization-recrystallization structural transition and emergent superconductivity in van der Waals semiconductor SiP under compression

van der Waals(vdW)semiconductors have gained significant attention due to their unique physical properties and promising applications,which are embedded within distinct crystallographic symmetries.Here,we report a pressure-induced crystallineamorphization-recrystallization transition under compression in binary vdW semiconductor SiP.Upon compression to 52 GPa,bulk SiP undergoes a consecutive phase transition from pristine crystalline to amorphous phase,ultimately to recrystallized phase.By employing synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments in conjunction with high-pressure crystal structure searching techniques,we reveal that the recrystallized Si P hosts a tetragonal structure(space group I4mm)and further transforms partially into a cubic phase(space group Fm3m).Consistently,electrical transport and alternating-current magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate the presence of three superconducting phases,which are embedded in separate crystallographic symmetries—the amorphous,tetragonal,and cubic structures.Furthermore,a high superconducting transition temperature of 12.3 K is observed in its recovered tetragonal phase during decompression.Our findings uncover a novel phase evolution path and elucidate a pressure-engineered structure-property relationship in vdW semiconductor SiP.These results not only offer a new platform to explore the transformation between different structures and functionalities,but also provide new opportunities for the design and exploration of advanced devices based on vdW materials.

Pressure engineering of intertwined phase transitions in lanthanide monopnictide NdSb

Coexistence of non-trivial band topology and intrinsic magnetic order not only leads to emergent phenomena but also allows for the tunability of the exotic properties from different degrees of freedom. By performing transport measurements at synergetic extreme conditions, here we report on pressure engineering of intertwined structural, magnetic, and topological phase transitions in an antiferromagnetic Dirac semimetal NdSb. We show that the original antiferromagnetic state is strengthened in the lowpressure region while destabilized upon further compression close to the critical pressure where a structural transition from Fm-3m phase to P4/mmm phase takes place at P~18 GPa, forming a yurt-shaped evolution in response to magnetic field,pressure and temperature. Concomitant with the structural transition, NdSb simultaneously carries on a magnetic transition to the ferromagnetic state. Moreover, theoretical calculations unravel that the ferromagnetic tetragonal phase presents nontrivial features of Weyl fermions. These findings offer new important insight into the microscopic interplay among lattice, spin, and relativistic fermions in lanthanide monopnictides.

Carrier balance and linear magnetoresistance in type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2

Unsaturated magnetoresistance （MR） has been reported in type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2, manifested as a perfect compensation of opposite carriers. We report linear MR （LMR） in WTe2 crystals, the onset of which was identified by constructing the MR mobility spectra for weak fields. The LMR further increased and became dominant for fields stronger than 20 T, while the parabolic MR gradually decayed. The LMR was also observed in high-pressure conditions.