High-pressure study of the Weyl semimetal NbAs

TL;DR

This study investigates the stability of the Weyl semimetal NbAs under high pressure, finding its structure remains stable up to 26 GPa and pressure does not induce superconductivity, indicating robustness of its topological phase.

Contribution

It provides the first high-pressure structural and resistance data on NbAs, demonstrating the phase's stability and resistance behavior under pressure.

Findings

Crystal structure stable up to 26 GPa

Resistance increases monotonically with pressure

No superconductivity observed up to 20 GPa

Abstract

We performed a series of high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and resistance measurements on the Weyl semimetal NbAs. The crystal structure remains stable up to 26 GPa according to the powder XRD data. The resistance of NbAs single crystal increases monotonically with pressure at low temperature. Up to 20 GPa, no superconducting transition is observed down to 0.3 K. These results show that the Weyl semimetal phase is robust in NbAs, and applying pressure is not a good way to get a topological superconductor from a Weyl semimetal.