• Yehezkel Amiel
  • Gyanu P. Kafle
  • Evgenia Komleva
  • Eran Greenberg
  • Yuri Ponosov
  • Stella Chariton
  • Barbara Lavina
  • Dongzhou Zhang
  • Alexander Palevski
  • Alexey v. Ushakov
  • Hitoshi Mori
  • Daniel i. Khomskii
  • Igor Mazin
  • Sergey Streltsov
  • Elena Margine
  • Gregory Rozenberg
Gold is one of the most inert metals, forming very few compounds, some with rather interesting properties, and only a few of them are currently known to be superconducting under certain conditions. Compounds of another noble element, Ag, are also relatively rare, and very few of them are superconducting. Finding new superconducting materials containing gold (and silver) is a challenge – especially having in mind that the best high-Tc superconductors under normal conditions are based upon their rather close congener, Cu. Here we report combined X-ray diffraction, Raman, and resistivity measurements, as well as first-principles calculations, to explore the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the properties of the sylvanite mineral, AuAgTe4. Our experimental results, supported by density functional theory, reveal a structural phase transition at ∼5 GPa from a monoclinic P2/c to P2/m phase, resulting in almost identical coordinations of Au and Ag ions, with rather uniform interatomic distances. Furthermore, resistivity measurements show the onset of superconductivity at ∼1.5 GPa in the P2/c phase, followed by a linear increase of Tc up to the phase transition, with a maximum in the P2/m phase, and a gradual decrease afterwards. Our calculations indicate phonon-mediated superconductivity, with the electron–phonon coupling coming predominantly from the low-energy phonon modes. Thus, along with the discovery of a new superconducting compound of gold/silver, our results advance the understanding of the mechanism behind superconductivity in Au-containing compounds and dichalcogenides of other transition metals.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10016-10024
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry C
Volume11
Issue number29
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

    WoS ResearchAreas Categories

  • Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
  • Physics, Applied

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Chemistry
  • General Chemistry

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