Pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition in TbBaCo_{2}O_{5.48}

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Sep 18;103(12):125501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.125501. Epub 2009 Sep 15.

Abstract

TbBaCo_{2}O_{5.48} has been studied by high-pressure synchrotron x-ray diffraction together with resistivity measurements as a function of temperature and pressure. It was found that under pressure a structural phase transition takes place corroborating with a sluggish insulator-to-metal transition. An onset of the metallic state was deduced from a gradual drop of resistivity at the range 3-10 GPa culminating into the change in sign of dR/dT, from negative to positive, at P >or= 10 GPa; at the same pressure range there is a change of lattice strain components calculated from the unit cell dimensions. The changes in structural and transport properties are very similar to those found on heating at ambient pressure implying a common mechanism.