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Abstract Given the rarity of metallic systems that exhibit ferroelectric-like transitions, it is apparently challenging to find a system that simultaneously possesses superconductivity and ferroelectric-like structural instability. Here, we report the observation of superconductivity at 2.4 K in a layered semimetal SrAuBi characterized by strong spin–orbit coupling (SOC) and ferroelectric-like lattice distortion. Single crystals of SrAuBi have been successfully synthesized and found to show a polar-nonpolar structure transition at 214 K, which is associated with the buckling of Au-Bi honeycomb lattice. On the basis of the band calculations considering SOC, we found significant Rashba-type spin splitting and symmetry-protected multiple Dirac points near the Fermi level. We believe that this discovery opens up new possibilities of pursuing exotic superconducting states associated with the semimetallic band structure without space inversion symmetry and the topological surface state with the strong SOC.

Recent interest in topological nature in condensed matter physics has revealed the essential role of Berry curvature in the anomalous Hall effect (AHE). However, since a large Hall response originating from Berry curvature has been reported in quite limited materials, the detailed mechanism remains unclear at present. Here, we report the discovery of a large AHE triggered by a pressure-induced magnetic phase transition in elemental α-Mn. The AHE is absent in the noncollinear antiferromagnetic phase at ambient pressure, whereas a large AHE is observed in the weak ferromagnetic phase under high pressure despite the small magnetization of ≈0.02μ_{B}/Mn. Our results indicate that the emergence of the AHE in α-Mn is governed by the symmetry of the underlying magnetic structure, providing a direct evidence of a switch between a zero and nonzero contribution of the Berry curvature across the phase boundary. α-Mn can be an elemental and tunable platform to reveal the role of Berry curvature in AHE.

The superconducting pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7 is revisited with a particular emphasis on the sample-quality issue. The compound has drawn attention as the only superconductor (Tc = 1.0 K) that has been found in the family of α- pyrochlore oxides since its discovery in 2001. Moreover, it exhibits two characteristic structural transitions from the cubic pyrochlore structure, with the inversion symmetry broken at the first one at 200 K. Recently, it has attracted increasing attention as a candidate spin–orbit coupled metal (SOCM), in which specific Fermi liquid instability is expected to lead to an odd-parity order with spontaneous inversion-symmetry breaking [L. Fu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 026401 (2015)] and parity-mixing superconductivity [V. Kozii and L. Fu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 207002 (2015); Y. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. B 93, 134512 (2016)]. We review our previous experimental results in comparison with those of other groups in the light of the theoretical prediction of the SOCM, which we consider meaningful and helpful for future progress in understanding this unique compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient of CeIn3 under high pressure has been investigated. The absolute value of the Hall coefficient shows an anomalous increase below T* ~ 80K at ambient pressure. The increase in T* with increasing pressure is similar to the pressure dependence of the characteristic temperature where the resistivity reaches its maximum. The temperature variations below T* at various pressures are well scaled on a single curve that is the formula based on the two-fluid model. No effect of the antiferromagnetic fluctuations observed in CeTIn5 (T = Co, Rh, and Ir) is observed above 2K even near the critical pressure where antiferromagnetic ordering disappears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkali-metal-intercalated FeSe materials, (NH3)yCs0.4FeSe (M: K, Rb, and Cs), have been synthesized using the liquid NH3 technique. (NH3)yCs0.4FeSe shows a superconducting transition temperature (Tc) as high as 31.2 K, which is higher by 3.8 K than the Tc of nonammoniated Cs0.4FeSe. The Tcs of (NH3)yCs0.4FeSe and (NH3)yCs0.4FeSe are almost the same as those of nonammoniated K0.4FeSe and Rb0.4FeSe. The Tc of (NH3)yCs0.4FeSe shows a negative pressure dependence. A clear correlation between Tc and lattice constant c is found for ammoniated metal-intercalated FeSe materials, suggesting a correlation between Fermi-surface nesting and superconductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]