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Superconductivity at 10–17 K in compressed sulphur

Abstract

Recent high-pressure studies of condensed matter at extreme densities have uncovered various new phenomena in simple molecular and elemental substances1. One of the most significant pressure-induced changes in materials properties is the transformation of insulators into metals and superconductors. Previous studies of compressed sulphur indicated transitions to metallic phases at 90 GPa (ref. 2) and 162 GPa (ref. 3). Here we demonstrate that at 93 GPa, elemental sulphur transforms not only to a metal, but also to a superconductor with a transition temperature, T c, of 10.1 K. Using a highly sensitive magnetic susceptibility technique adapted for megabar-pressure diamond anvil cells, we find that T c increases linearly with pressure up to 157 GPa. This contrasts with the negative d T c/dP observed4 (at much lower pressures) in the heavier superconducting chalcogenides Se and Te. Moreover, at the transformation in sulphur to a higher pressure metallic phase near 160 GPa, T c increases from 14 to 17 K. These are the highest reported transition temperatures for an elemental solid. As such, these results may provide crucial tests of mechanisms of superconductivity.

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Figure 1: Temperature scans showing the change in magnetic susceptibility (a.u., arbitrary units) near the superconducting transition and identification of T c (arrow).
Figure 2: Representative temperature scans at the second phase transition.
Figure 3

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Acknowledgements

We thank G. Goncharov for extensive help with pressure measurements, and K.Amaya, K. Shimizu and M. Eremets for communicating their results before publication. We also thank P. Jillet and ENS-Lion for help with manuscript preparation. This research was supported by the NSF.

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Correspondence to Russell J. Hemley.

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Struzhkin, V., Hemley, R., Mao, Hk. et al. Superconductivity at 10–17 K in compressed sulphur. Nature 390, 382–384 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/37074

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