Pressure-induced superconductivity and structural transition in ferromagnetic <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">CrSiTe</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>
Wanping Cai, Hualei Sun, Wei Xia, Changwei Wu, Ying Liu, Hui Liu, Yu Gong, Dao‐Xin Yao, Yanfeng Guo, Meng Wang
Abstract
Layered structural materials have been a fertile playground to investigate mechanisms of fundamental physics and explore potential applications. Here, we report investigations on ferromagnetic van der Waals $\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$ via high-pressure synchrotron x-ray diffraction, electrical resistance, and magnetoresistance measurements. Under compression, $\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$ undergoes an insulator-metal transition and a structural transition at $\ensuremath{\sim}7.5$ GPa. Concomitantly with the structural transition, the magnetoresistance changes sign, the negative Hall coefficient increases dramatically, and superconductivity emerges at 3 K. The superconductivity persists up to the highest measured pressure of 47.1 GPa with a maximum ${T}_{c}\ensuremath{\approx}$ 4.5 K at $\ensuremath{\sim}30$ GPa. Our results suggest that $\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$ is paramagnetic in the pressure range of superconductivity. The discoveries of superconductivity and magnetic transition in ferromagnetic $\mathrm{Cr}\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{Te}}_{3}$ under pressure provide new perspectives to explore the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism in Cr-based two-dimensional van der Waals materials.