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    Pressure-induced electronic delocalization and superconductivity in GaNb4Se8

    Yuejian Wang1,*, Zhongyan Wu2, Bhupendra K C3, Dongzhou Zhang4, Lin Wang2, Sanjay V. Khare3, Lilian Prodan5,6, and Vladimir Tsurkan5,6

    • 1Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan 48309, USA
    • 2Center for High-Pressure Science (CHiPS), State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, Hebei 066004, China
    • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC), University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio 43606, USA
    • 4GeoSoilEnviroCARS, University of Chicago, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
    • 5Experimental Physics V, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, University of Augsburg, 86135 Augsburg, Germany
    • 6Institute of Applied Physics, Moldova State University, MD-2028 Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

    • *Contact author: ywang235@oakland.edu

    Phys. Rev. B 114, 175107 – Published 4 September, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8b8c-2wm3

    Abstract

    Understanding how electronic transport evolves from localized to itinerant regimes in correlated cluster solids remains an important challenge in condensed-matter physics. Here, we investigate the pressure-dependent transport properties of the lacunar spinel GaNb4Se8, a cluster Mott insulator at ambient conditions. At ambient pressure, the resistivity follows Efros-Shklovskii variable-range hopping, indicating Coulomb gap–controlled carrier localization. A pressure-induced electronic delocalization process begins at low pressures (∼5 GPa), as evidenced by the continuous suppression of room-temperature resistance. Upon further compression, the system undergoes a broad insulator-to-metal-like crossover in low-temperature transport, culminating in a fully metallic-like ground state at ∼17–18 GPa. In contrast, the crystallographic transition from the cubic phase to the monoclinic C2 phase starts at ∼20 GPa and ends near ∼32 GPa, demonstrating that the pressure-induced electronic evolution is completed before the onset of long-range structural symmetry breaking. At higher pressures, superconductivity (with a superconducting coherence length ξ(0) ≈ 80–90 Å) emerges from a pressure-induced metallic-like regime. These results establish GaNb4Se8 as a platform for studying correlation-driven evolution of electronic transport in cluster-based solids.

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