On the lineshapes of temperature-dependent transport measurements of superconductors under pressure

TL;DR

This paper investigates how dynamic AC effects influence temperature-dependent resistance measurements in superconductors under pressure, clarifying features that may be misinterpreted as superconducting signals.

Contribution

It reveals that dynamic effects in AC transport measurements can distort resistance data, and demonstrates that phase-sensitive techniques improve the accuracy of superconductivity detection under pressure.

Findings

AC effects can cause divergence between apparent and DC resistance

Superconducting transition features can be sharpened by dynamic effects

Phase-sensitive measurements provide more reliable superconductivity evidence

Abstract

Recent reports of superconductivity in the vicinity of room temperature have been the subject of discussion by the community. Specifically, features in the resistance-temperature (R-T) relations have raised questions. We show that many of these features can arise from previously unaccounted-for dynamic effects associated with the AC transport techniques often used in high-pressure experiments. These dynamic AC effects can can cause the apparent resistance (Rapparent) to diverge from the DC resistance (RDC), sharpen measured superconducting transitions, and produce other features in the measured R-T response. We also show that utilizing the full output of phase-sensitive transport measurements provides a valuable probe of superconducting samples in difficult to measure systems