The pressure dependences of resistivity and ac susceptibility have been measured in the mineral calaverite AuTe2. Resistivity clearly shows a first-order phase transition into a high-pressure phase, consistent with the results of a previous structural analysis. We found zero resistivity and a diamagnetic shielding signal at low temperatures in the high-pressure phase, which clearly indicates the appearance of superconductivity. Our experimental results suggest that bulk superconductivity appears only in the high-pressure phase. For AuTe2, the highest superconducting transition temperature under pressure is Tc = 2.3 K at 2.34 GPa; it was Tc = 4.0 K for Pt-doped (Au0.65Pt0.35)Te2. The difference in Tc between the two systems is discussed on the basis of the results obtained using the band calculations and McMillan's formula.
@article{arxiv.1309.4827,
title = {Pressure-Induced Superconductivity in Mineral Calaverite AuTe2},
author = {Shunsaku Kitagawa and Hisashi Kotegawa and Hideki Tou and Hiroyuki Ishii and Kazutaka Kudo and Minoru Nohara and Hisatomo Harima},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1309.4827},
year = {2013}
}