Evolution of topological phases of under hydrostatic pressure
Phys. Rev. B 112, 085115 – Published 8 August, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ryhv-stzs
Abstract
We investigated the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the quasi-one-dimensional superconductor , using Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron x-ray diffraction, and first-principles calculations. Our studies reveal the weak topological nature of under ambient conditions. The application of hydrostatic pressure to the material shows a series of topological quantum phase transitions. Specifically, we observe a transition from weak to strong topological phase at 3 GPa followed by another transition to a weak topological phase at 8 GPa. The topologically dark surfaces in the initial and final weak topological phases are different, as indicated by the weak indices (101) and (100), respectively. The surface spectrum of in the strong phase indicates a Dirac point at the center of the Brillouin zone with spin helicity. We also observe the existence of Rashba-like spin splitting of the electronic states on the surfaces, owing to the discontinuous nature of the potential at the surface and the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Our study reveals the extremely rich properties that emerge in with the application of pressure, shedding light on its importance in next-generation quantum devices.