Pressure-induced superconductivity in topological type II Dirac semimetal NiTe2

TL;DR

This study reports pressure-induced superconductivity in NiTe2, a topological Dirac semimetal, with critical temperature reaching 6.4K at high pressure, suggesting potential topological superconductivity.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of superconductivity in NiTe2 under high pressure and explores its potential as a topological superconductor, which is a novel finding.

Findings

Superconductivity appears at 12 GPa with Tc of 3.7K.

Maximum Tc of 6.4K at 52.8 GPa.

Observation of two superconducting transitions under pressure.

Abstract

Very recently, NiTe2 has been reported to be a type II Dirac semimetal with Dirac nodes near the Fermi surface. Furthermore, it is unveiled that NiTe2 presents the Hall Effect, which is ascribed to orbital magnetoresistance. The physical properties behavior of NiTe2 under high pressure attracts us. In this paper, we investigate the electrical properties of polycrystalline NiTe2 by application of pressure ranging from 3.4GPa to 54.45Gpa. Superconductivity emerges at critical pressure 12GPa with a transition temperature of 3.7K, and Tc reaches its maximum, 6.4 K, at the pressure of 52.8GPa. Comparing with the superconductivity in MoP, we purposed the possibility of topological superconductivity in NiTe2. Two superconductivity transitions are observed with pressure increasing in single crystal.