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Pressure-driven metal-insulator transition in BaMn2P2: A correlated Mn-pnictide analog of Fe-based superconductors

Youngro Lee1,*, Daniil Evtushynsky1, Richard Gaal1, Igor Morozov2, Anita Maksutova3, Tomasz Poreba1, Timur Kim4, and Henrik M. Rønnow1,†

  • *Contact author: youngro.lee@epfl.ch
  • †Contact author: henrik.ronnow@epfl.ch
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 195131 – Published 18 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k8zt-mkyk

Abstract

We report pressure-induced metallization in BaMn2P2 based on resistivity measurements in a diamond anvil cell. At ambient pressure, the temperature-dependent resistivity is well described by a two-gap Arrhenius model, yielding intrinsic and extrinsic activation energies of approximately 0.2 and 0.04 eV, respectively. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) shows no detectable spectral weight at the Fermi level within the measured momentum window. The growth of spectral weight at higher binding energies is consistent with the energy scales inferred from transport measurements. Under pressure, the temperature dependence of the resistivity evolves from insulatinglike to mixed-slope behavior and becomes metallic above Pc≈7GPa, with no low-temperature upturn. The resistivity ratio R(P)=ρ(100K)/ρ(300K) also drops abruptly near Pc. A baseline transport model combining Bloch-Grüneisen phonon scattering with a thermally activated carrier density fails to reproduce this sharp change for any smoothly varying activation energy. Temperature- and pressure-dependent x-ray diffraction shows smooth evolution of V with no symmetry change and no resolvable discontinuity at Pc. Taken together, these results indicate an abrupt pressure-driven metallization near Pc, with no evidence for a structural phase transition within our experimental resolution.

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Phys. Rev. B 113, 195131– Published 18 May, 2026
  • Received 10 March 2026
  • Revised 26 April 2026
  • Accepted 6 May 2026
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