The vital role of hole-carriers for superconductivity in pressurized black phosphorus

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that hole-carriers are crucial for superconductivity in pressurized black phosphorus, with high-pressure Hall effect measurements revealing their influence on transition temperature and a Lifshitz transition at 17.2 GPa.

Contribution

First in-situ high-pressure Hall effect measurements on black phosphorus showing the vital role of hole-carriers in superconductivity development.

Findings

Hole-carriers govern superconductivity in black phosphorus.

A Lifshitz transition occurs at ~17.2 GPa in the cubic phase.

Correlation between Hall coefficient and superconducting transition temperature.

Abstract

The influence of carrier type on superconductivity has been an important issue for understanding both conventional and unconventional superconductors [1-7]. For elements that superconduct, it is known that hole-carriers govern the superconductivity for transition and main group metals [8-10]. The role of hole-carriers in elements that are not normally conducting but can be converted to superconductors, however, remains unclear due to the lack of experimental data. Here we report the first in-situ high pressure Hall effect measurements on single crystal black phosphorus, measured up to ~ 50 GPa, and find a correlation between the Hall coefficient and the superconducting transition temperature (TC). Our results reveal that hole-carriers play a vital role in developing superconductivity and enhancing TC. Importantly, we also find a Lifshitz transition in the high-pressure cubic phase at ~17.2GPa, which uncovers the origin of a puzzling valley in the superconducting TC-pressure phase diagram. These results offer insight into the role of hole-carriers in developing superconductivity in simple semiconducting solids under pressure.