We found that under pressure SnO with alpha-PbO structure, the same structure as in many Fe-based superconductors, e.g. beta-FeSe, undergoes a transition to a superconducting state for p > 6 GPa with a maximum Tc of 1.4 K at p = 9.3 GPa. The pressure dependence of Tc reveals a dome-like shape and superconductivity disappears for p > 16 GPa. It is further shown from band structure calculations that SnO under pressure exhibits a Fermi surface topology similar to that reported for some Fe-based superconductors and that the nesting between the hole and electron pockets correlates with the change of Tc as a function of pressure.
@article{arxiv.1009.3787,
title = {Superconductivity in SnO: a Nonmagnetic Analog to Fe-based Superconductors?},
author = {M. K. Forthaus and K. Sengupta and O. Heyer and N. E. Christensen and A. Svane and K. Syassen and D. I. Khomskii and T. Lorenz and M. M. Abd-Elmeguid},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1009.3787},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
4 pages, 6 figures, as accepted by Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press)