Superconductor-insulator transitions in three-dimensional indium-oxide at high pressures

TL;DR

This study explores the superconductor-insulator transition in three-dimensional amorphous indium-oxide under high pressure, revealing anomalous metallic phases, a quantum critical point, and magnetic-field-induced transitions, expanding understanding beyond two-dimensional systems.

Contribution

It provides new insights into 3D superconductor-insulator transitions, highlighting pressure effects, anomalous metallic phases, and the existence of a quantum critical point, which were less understood in prior 2D studies.

Findings

Superconductivity appears above ~0.2 GPa but without a true transition.

High resistivity saturation is linked to anomalous metallic phases.

A quantum critical point occurs at ~25 GPa where superconductivity vanishes.

Abstract

Experiments investigating magnetic-field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition (HSIT) mostly focus on two-dimensional material systems where the transition and its proximate ground-state phases, often exhibit features that are seemingly at odds with the expected behavior. Here we present a complementary study of a three-dimensional pressure-packed amorphous indium-oxide (InOx) powder where granularity controls the HSIT. Above a low threshold pressure of ~0.2 GPa, vestiges of superconductivity are detected, although neither a true superconducting transition nor insulating behavior are observed. Instead, a saturation at very high resistivity at low pressure is followed by saturation at very low resistivity at higher pressure. We identify both as different manifestations of anomalous metallic phases dominated by superconducting fluctuations. By analogy with previous identification of the low resistance saturation as a "failed superconductor", our data suggests that the very high resistance saturation is a manifestation of a "failed insulator". Above a threshold pressure of ~6 GPa, the sample becomes fully packed, and superconductivity is robust, with TC tunable with pressure. A quantum critical point at PC~25 GPa marks the complete suppression of superconductivity. For a finite pressure below PC, a magnetic field is shown to induce a HSIT from a true zero-resistance superconducting state to a weakly insulating behavior. Determining the critical field, HC, we show that similar to the 2D behavior, the insulating-like state maintains a superconducting character, which is quenched at higher field, above which the magnetoresistance decreases to its fermionic normal state value.