Structure Responsible for the Superconducting State in La₃Ni₂O₇at High-Pressure and Low-Temperature Conditions

Abstract

Very recently, a new superconductor with T c = 80 K has been reported in nickelate (La 3 Ni 2 O 7 ) at around 15–40 GPa conditions (Nature, 621, 493, 2023), which is the second type of unconventional superconductor, besides cuprates, with T c above liquid nitrogen temperature. However, the phase diagram plotted in this report was mostly based on the transport measurement under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions, and the assumed corresponding X-ray diffraction (XRD) results were carried out at room temperature. This encouraged us to carry out in situ high-pressure and low-temperature synchrotron XRD experiments to determine which phase is responsible for the high T c state. In addition to the phase transition from the orthorhombic Amam structure to the orthorhombic Fmmm structure, a tetragonal phase with the space group of I 4/ mmm was discovered when the sample was compressed to around 19 GPa at 40 K where the superconductivity takes place in La 3 Ni 2 O 7 . The calculations based on this tetragonal structure reveal that the electronic states that approached the Fermi energy were mainly dominated by the e g orbitals (3d z 2 and 3d x 2 – y 2 ) of Ni atoms, which are located in the oxygen octahedral crystal field. The correlation between T c and this structural evolution, especially Ni–O octahedra regularity and the in-plane Ni–O–Ni bonding angles, is analyzed. This work sheds new light to identify what is the most likely phase responsible for superconductivity in double-layered nickelate.