Spectroscopic evidence for the superconductivity of elemental metal Y under pressure
Zi-Yu Cao, Harim Jang, Seokmin Choi, Jihyun Kim, Su‐Young Kim, Jianbo Zhang, Anir S. Sharbirin, Jeongyong Kim, Tuson Park
Abstract
Abstract Very high applied pressure induces superconductivity with the transition temperature ( T c ) exceeding 19 K in elemental yttrium, but relatively little is known about the nature of that superconductivity. From point-contact spectroscopy (PCS) measurements in a diamond anvil cell (DAC), a strong enhancement in the differential conductance is revealed near the zero-biased voltage owing to Andreev reflection, a hallmark of the superconducting (SC) phase. Analysis of the PCS spectra based on the extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) model indicates two SC gaps at 48.6 GPa, where the large gap Δ L is 3.63 meV and the small gap Δ S is 0.46 meV. When scaled against a reduced temperature, both small and large SC gaps collapse on a single curve that follows the prediction from BCS theory. The SC gap-to- T c ratio is 8.2 for the larger gap, and the initial slope of the upper critical field is −1.9 T/K, indicating that Y belongs to a family of strongly coupled BCS superconductors. The successful application of PCS to Y in DAC environments demonstrates its utility for future research on other pressure-induced high- T c superconductors.