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Pressure-induced superconductivity in the RhBi2 polymorphs

KeYuan Ma1,*, Lifen Shi1, Samuel Gallego Parra2,3, Oksana E. Kvitnitskaya4,5, Dmitri Efremov4, Jonathan Noky1, Qing Dong6, Walter Schnelle1, Yurii Prots1 et al.

Thomas Doert7, Helge Rosner1, Claudia Felser1, and Sergey A. Medvedev1,†

  • *Contact author: keyuan.ma@cpfs.mpg.de
  • †Contact author: Sergiy.Medvediev@cpfs.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. B 114, 274502 – Published 3 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8bx1-db7f

Abstract

The polymorphic rhodium-bismuth compound RhBi2 has attracted interest owing to its nontrivial topological electronic states. We report the growth of single crystals of both α- and β−RhBi2 and a study of their physical properties at low temperatures and ambient and high pressures beyond 40 GPa. At ambient pressure, β−RhBi2 is a metal with a low density of states at the Fermi level, whereas α−RhBi2 is a semimetal with large magnetoresistance (∼500%). Point-contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy demonstrates induced superconductivity for both phases. By applying pressure, we observe the emergence of superconductivity at p≈8 GPa in β−RhBi2 and at p≈20 GPa in α−RhBi2, with the critical temperature Tc exhibiting a dome-shaped dependence on pressure in both phases. The maximum values of Tc are 6.6 K at p≈13 GPa for β−RhBi2 and 3.7 K at p≈24.2 GPa for α−RhBi2. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction studies show that the crystal structure of α−RhBi2 remains stable over the entire investigated pressure range. In contrast, β−RhBi2 undergoes a transition from a triclinic to a tetragonal structure (γ−RhBi2) at p≈13.5 GPa, accompanied by the attainment of the maximum value of Tc.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, 274502– Published 3 November, 2026
  • Received 28 January 2026
  • Revised 23 June 2026
  • Accepted 24 September 2026
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