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In the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic confinement experiment, a reduction of turbulent density fluctuations as well as anomalous impurity diffusion is associated with a peaking of the plasma density profile. These effects correlate with improved confinement and appear largely due to a reduction of anomalous transport as the change in neoclassical transport is small. The observed decrease of turbulent heat flux with increased density gradients is in agreement with nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations, and has been attributed to the unique geometry of W7-X that limits the severity of trapped electron modes.

The dependence of the magnetic ordering temperature To of Sm metal was determined through four-point electrical resistivity measurements to pressures as high as 150 GPa. A strong increase in To with pressure is observed above 85 GPa. In this pressure range Sm ions alloyed in dilute concentration with superconducting Y exhibit giant Kondo pair breaking. Taken together, these results suggest that for pressures above 85 GPa Sm is in a highly correlated electron state, like a Kondo lattice, with an unusually high value of To. A detailed comparison is made with similar results obtained earlier on Nd, Tb and Dy and their dilute magnetic alloys with superconducting Y.

We explore the response of Ir $5d$ orbitals to pressure in $\beta$-$\mathrm{Li_2IrO_3}$, a hyperhoneycomb iridate in proximity to a Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) ground state. X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals a reconstruction of the electronic ground state below 2 GPa, the same pressure range where x-ray magnetic circular dichroism shows an apparent collapse of magnetic order. The electronic reconstruction, which manifests a reduction in the effective spin-orbit (SO) interaction in $5d$ orbitals, pushes $\beta$-$\mathrm{Li_2IrO_3}$ further away from the pure $J_{\rm eff}=1/2$ limit. Although lattice symmetry is preserved across the electronic transition, x-ray diffraction shows a highly anisotropic compression of the hyperhoneycomb lattice which affects the balance of bond-directional Ir-Ir exchange interactions driven by spin-orbit coupling at Ir sites. An enhancement of symmetric anisotropic exchange over Kitaev and Heisenberg exchange interactions seen in theoretical calculations that use precisely this anisotropic Ir-Ir bond compression provides one possible route to realization of a QSL state in this hyperhoneycomb iridate at high pressures.

In previous studies the pressure dependence of the magnetic ordering temperature $T_{\text{o}}$ of Dy was found to exhibit a sharp increase above its volume collapse pressure of 73 GPa, appearing to reach temperatures well above ambient at 157 GPa. In a search for a second such lanthanide, electrical resistivity measurements were carried out on neighboring Tb to 141 GPa over the temperature range 3.8 - 295 K. Below Tb's volume collapse pressure of 53 GPa, the pressure dependence $T_{\text{o}}(P)$ mirrors that of both Dy and Gd. However, at higher pressures $T_{\text{o}}(P)$ for Tb becomes highly anomalous. This result, together with the very strong suppression of superconductivity by dilute Tb ions in Y, suggests that extreme pressure transports Tb into an unconventional magnetic state with an anomalously high magnetic ordering temperature.

Alkali metals display unexpected properties at high pressure, including emergence of low symmetry crystal structures, that appear to occur due to enhanced electronic correlations among the otherwise nearly-free conduction electrons. We investigate the high pressure electronic and structural ground state of K, Rb, and Cs using x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements together with ab initio theoretical calculations. The sequence of phase transitions under pressure observed at low temperature is similar in all three heavy alkalis except for the absence of the oC84 phase in Cs. Both the experimental and theoretical results point to pressure-enhanced localization of the valence electrons characterized by pseudo-gap formation near the Fermi level and strong spd hybridization. Although the crystal structures predicted to host magnetic order in K are not observed, the localization process appears to drive these alkalis closer to a strongly correlated electron state., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

To investigate whether the dense Kondo compound CeB6 might evolve into a topological insulator under sufficient pressure, four-point electrical resistivity measurements have been carried out over the temperature range 1.3 K to 295 K in a diamond anvil cell to 122 GPa. The temperature of the resistivity maximum initially increases slowly with pressure but disappears between 12 and 20 GPa. The marked changes observed under pressure suggest that a valence and/or structural transition may have occurred. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements, however, fail to detect any change in crystal structure to 85 GPa. Although a transition into an insulating phase is not observed, this dense Kondo system is completely suppressed at 43 GPa, leaving behind what appears to be a conventional Fermi liquid metal., Comment: improved figure format to submit/0984134

In an attempt to destabilize the magnetic state of the heavy lanthanides Dy and Gd, extreme pressures were applied in an electrical resistivity measurement to 157 GPa over the temperature range 5 - 295 K. The magnetic ordering temperature $T_{\text{o}}$ and spin-disorder resistance $R_{sd}$ of Dy, as well as the superconducting pair-breaking effect $\Delta T_{c}$ in Y(1 at.\% Dy), are found to track each other in a highly non-monotonic fashion as a function of pressure, all three increasing sharply above 73 GPa, the critical pressure for a 6\% volume collapse in Dy. At 157 GPa $T_{\text{o}}$ is estimated to reach temperatures in the range 370 - 500 K, the highest magnetic ordering temperature of any lanthanide. In contrast, $T_{\text{o}% }(P)$ for Gd shows no such sharp increase to 105 GPa. Taken together, these results suggest that pressures greater than 73 GPa transform Dy from a conventional magnetic lanthanide into a Kondo lattice system with an anomalously high magnetic ordering temperature., Comment: 4 figures, replaces arXiv:1404.4256v2

The sudden decrease in molar volume exhibited by most lanthanides under high pressure is often attributed to changes in the degree of localization of their 4f-electrons. We give evidence, based on electrical resistivity measurements of dilute Y(Gd) and Y(Tb) alloys to 120 GPa, that the volume collapse transitions in Gd and Tb metals have different origins, despite their being neighbors in the periodic table. Remarkably, the change under pressure in the magnetic state of isolated Pr or Tb impurity ions in the nonmagnetic Y host appears to closely mirror corresponding changes in pure Pr or Tb metals. The collapse in Tb appears to be driven by an enhanced negative exchange interaction between 4f and conduction electrons under pressure (Kondo resonance) which, in the case of Y(Tb), dramatically alters the superconducting properties of the Y host, much like previously found for Y(Pr). In Gd our resistivity measurements suggest that a Kondo resonance is not the main driver for its volume collapse. X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopies clearly show that 4f local moments remain largely intact across both volume collapse transitions ruling out 4f band formation (delocalization) and valence transition models as possible drivers. The results highlight the richness of behavior behind the volume collapse transition in lanthanides and demonstrate the stability of the 4f level against band formation to extreme pressure., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Physical Review B

In order to probe the changes in the valence state and magnetic properties of Eu metal under extreme pressure, x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and synchrotron M\"ossbauer spectroscopy experiments have been carried out. The M\"ossbauer isomer shift exhibits an anomalous pressure dependence, passing through a maximum near 20 GPa. Density functional theory has been applied to give insight into the pressure-induced changes in both Eu's electronic structure and M\"ossbauer isomer shift. Contrary to previous reports, Eu is found to remain nearly divalent to the highest pressures reached (87 GPa) with magnetic order persisting to at least 50 GPa. These results should lead to a better understanding of the nature of the superconducting state found above 75 GPa and of the sequence of structural phase transitions observed to 92 GPa.

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction experiments have been carried out on Eu metal at ambient temperature to pressures as high as 92 GPa (0.92 Mbar). Following the well-known bcc-to-hcp transition at 12 GPa, a mixed phase region is observed from 18 to 66 GPa until finally a single orthorhombic (Pnma) phase persists from 66 to 92 GPa. These results are compared to predictions from density functional theory calculations. Under pressure the relatively large molar volume Vmol of divalent Eu is rapidly diminished, equaling or falling below Vmol(P) for neighboring trivalent lanthanides above 15 GPa. The present results suggest that above 15 GPa Eu is neither divalent nor fully trivalent to pressures as high as 92 GPa.

AC susceptibility measurements have been carried out on superconducting LaO1-xFxFeAs for x=0.07 and 0.14 under He-gas pressures to about 0.8 GPa. Not only do the measured values of dTc/dP differ substantially from those obtained in previous studies using other pressure media, but the Tc(P) dependences observed depend on the detailed pressure/temperature history of the sample. A sizeable sensitivity of Tc(P) to shear stresses provides a possible explanation.

In those cases where charge stripe order has been observed in cuprates, the crystal structure is such that the average rotational symmetry of the CuO2 planes is reduced from four-fold to two-fold. As a result, one could argue that the reduced lattice symmetry is essential to the existence of stripe order. We use pressure to restore the average four-fold symmetry in a single crystal of La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO(4), and show by x-ray diffraction that charge stripe order still occurs. Thus, electronically-driven stripe order can spontaneously break the lattice symmetry., Comment: 4 pp, 5 figs, 2 col; final version, with various minor changes

The dependence of the superconducting transition temperature Tc of CaC6 has been determined as a function of hydrostatic pressure in both helium-loaded gas and diamond-anvil cells to 0.6 and 32 GPa, respectively. Following an initial increase at the rate +0.39(1) K/GPa, Tc drops abruptly from 15 K to 4 K at 10 GPa. Synchrotron x-ray measurements to 15 GPa point to a structural transition near 10 GPa from a rhombohedral to a higher symmetry phase.

Divalent Eu (4f7, J=7/2) possesses a strong local magnetic moment which suppresses superconductivity. Under sufficient pressure it is anticipated that Eu will become trivalent (4f6, J=0) and a weak Van Vleck paramagnet, thus opening the door for a possible superconducting state, in analogy with Am metal (5f6, J=0) which superconducts at 0.79 K. We present ac susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements on Eu metal for temperatures 1.5 - 297 K to pressures as high as 142 GPa. At approximately 80 GPa Eu becomes superconducting at Tc = 1.8 K; Tc increases linearly with pressure to 2.75 K at 142 GPa. Eu metal thus becomes the 53rd known elemental superconductor in the periodic table.

Whereas dhcp La superconducts at ambient pressure with Tc = 5 K, the other trivalent d-electron metals Sc, Y, and Lu only superconduct if high pressures are applied. Earlier measurements of the pressure dependence of Tc for Sc and Lu metal are here extended to much higher pressures. Whereas Tc for Lu increases monotonically with pressure to 12.4 K at 174 GPa (1.74 Mbar). Tc for Sc reaches 19.6 K at 107 GPa, the 2nd highest value observed for any elemental superconductor. At higher pressures a phase transition occurs whereupon Tc drops to 8.31 K at 111 GPa. The Tc(P) dependences for Sc and Lu are compared to those of Y and La. An interesting correlation is pointed out between the value of Tc and the fractional free volume available to the conduction electrons outside the ion cores, a quantity which is directly related to the number of d electrons in the conduction band.

A search for superconductivity has been carried out on the hexagonal polymorph of Laves-phase CaLi2, a compound for which Feng, Ashcroft, and Hoffmann predict highly anomalous behavior under pressure. No superconductivity is observed above 1.10 K at ambient pressure. However, high-pressure ac susceptibility and electrical resistivity studies to 81 GPa reveal bulk superconductivity in CaLi2 at temperatures as high as 13 K. The normal-state resistivity shows a dramatic increase with pressure., Comment: bulk superconductivity in CaLi2 now confirmed

Using a diamond anvil cell with nearly hydrostatic helium pressure medium we have significantly extended the superconducting phase diagram Tc(P) of Sc, the lightest of all transition metals. We find that superconductivity is induced in Sc under pressure, Tc increasing monotonically to 8.2 K at 74.2 GPa. The Tc(P) dependences of the trivalent d-electron metals Sc, Y, La, and Lu are compared and discussed within a simple s-d charge transfer framework., Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. B (Brief Reports)

The dependence of the Curie temperature Tc on nearly hydrostatic pressure has been determined to 17.2 GPa for the weak itinerant ferromagnetic SrRuO3 in both polycrystalline and single-crystalline form. Tc is found to decrease under pressure from 162 K to 42.7 K at 17.2 GPa in nearly linear fashion at the rate dTc/dP = -6.8 K/GPa. No superconductivity was found above 4 K in the pressure range 17 to 34 GPa. Room-temperature X-ray diffraction studies to 25.3 GPa reveal no structural phase transition but indicate that the average Ru-O-Ru bond angle passes through a minimum near 15 GPa. The bulk modulus and its pressure derivative were determined to be B =192(3) GPa and B' = 5.0(3), respectively. Parallel ac susceptibility studies on polycrystalline CaRuO3 at 6 and 8 GPa pressure found no evidence for either ferromagnetism or superconductivity above 4 K.

In an experiment in a diamond anvil cell utilizing helium pressure medium, yttrium metal displays a superconducting transition temperature which increases monotonically from Tc ? 3.5 K at 30 GPa to 17 K at 89.3 GPa, one of the highest transition temperatures for any elemental superconductor. The pressure dependence of Tc differs substantially from that observed in previous studies under quasihydrostatic pressure to 30 GPa. Remarkably, the dependence of Tc on relative volume V/Vo is linear over the entire pressure range above 33 GPa, implying that higher values of Tc are likely at higher pressures. For the trivalent metals Sc, Y, La, Lu there appears to be some correlation between Tc and the ratio of the Wigner-Seitz radius to the ion core radius., Comment: submitted for publication

The superconducting transition in a single overdoped, detwinned YBa2Cu3Ox (YBCO) crystal is studied using four different probes. Whereas the AC and DC magnetic susceptibilities find a dominant transition at 88 K with a smaller effect near 92 K, the specific heat and electrical resistivity reveal only a single transition at 88 K and 92 K, respectively. Under hydrostatic pressures to 0.60 GPa these two transitions shift in opposite directions, their separation increasing. The present experiments clearly show that the bulk transition lies at 88 K and originates from fully oxygenated YBCO; the 92 K transition likely arises from filamentary superconductivity in a minority optimally doped phase (< 1 %) of YBCO located at or near the crystal surface., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

The thermal expansion coefficient $\alpha$ of MgB$_2$ is revealed to change from positive to negative on cooling through the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$. The Gr\"uneisen function also becomes negative at $T_c$ followed by a dramatic increase to large positive values at low temperature. The results suggest anomalous coupling between superconducting electrons and low-energy phonons., Comment: 5 figures. submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

The dependence of the critical current density Jc on hydrostatic pressure to 0.6 GPa is determined for a single 25-degree [001]-tilt grain boundary in a bicrystalline ring of nearly optimally doped melt-textured YBa2Cu3Ox. Jc is found to increase rapidly under pressure at +20 %/GPa. A new diagnostic method is introduced (pressure-induced Jc relaxation) which reveals a sizeable concentration of vacant oxygen sites in the grain boundary region. Completely filling such sites with oxygen anions should lead to significant enhancements in Jc., Comment: revised manuscript, graphic errors in figures corrected

We have determined the crystal structures and superconducting transition temperatures of La1.48Nd0.4Sr0.12CuO4 under nearly hydrostatic pressures in diamond anvil cells to 5.0 GPa and 19.0 GPa, respectively. Synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction measurements were used to establish the pressure-temperature structural phase diagram. Under pressure the superconducting transition temperature increases rapidly from Tc = 3 K to a maximum value of 22 K at 5 GPa, a pressure slightly greater than that required to stabilize the undistorted I4/mmm structure in the superconducting state. Increasing the pressure further to 19 GPa leads to a decrease in Tc to ~12 K. These results are discussed in relation to earlier high pressure measurements for similar materials., Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev. B

The ability of single grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3Ox bicrystalline rings to carry electrical current is found to be significantly enhanced under hydrostatic pressure. Nearly hydrostatic pressures are applied to the alkali metals Li, Na, and K. in a search for superconductivity. Whereas Li becomes superconducting above 20 GPa at temperatures as high as 15 K, no superconductivity was observed above 4 K in Na to 65 GPa nor in K above 4 K to 43.5 GPa or above 1.5 K to 35 GPa.

The dependence of Tc for MgB2 on purely hydrostatic or nearly hydrostatic pressure has been determined to 23 GPa for single-crystalline and to 32 GPa for polycrystalline samples, and found to be in good agreement. Tc decreases from 39 K at ambient pressure to 15 K at 32 GPa with an initial slope dTc/dP = -1.11(2) K/GPa. Evidence is presented that the differing values of dTc/dP reported in the literature result primarily from shear-stress effects in nonhydrostatic pressure media and not differences in the samples. Although comparison of these results with theory supports phonon-mediated superconductivity, a critical test of theory must await volume-dependent calculations based on the solution of the anisotropic Eliashberg equations., Comment: Invited paper for a special edition of Physica on MgB2

In this paper we report parallel in situ neutron powder diffraction and Tc(P) measurements versus pressure on the same MgB2 sample in a He-gas apparatus to 0.6 GPa; in addition, we present Tc(P) measurements in a helium-loaded diamond-anvil-cell to 20 GPa on the same sample. Our results are compared with those of other groups. The high precision achieved in these measurements allows a quantitative evaluation of the change in Tc as a function of the changes in structure. Our results are consistent with electron-phonon pairing in MgB2., Comment: To appear in: "Studies of High Temperature Superconductors, Vol. 38", edited by A. Narlikar (Nova Science Publishers, N.Y., 2001)

The dependence of Tc on nearly hydrostatic pressure has been measured for an isotopically pure (11B) MgB2 sample in a helium-loaded diamond-anvil-cell to nearly 20 GPa. Tc decreases monotonically with pressure from 39.1 K at ambient pressure to 20.9 K at 19.2 GPa. The initial dependence is the same as that obtained earlier (dTc/dP = -1.11(2) K/GPa) on the same sample in a He-gas apparatus to 0.7 GPa. The observed pressure dependence Tc(P) to 20 GPa can be readily described in terms of simple lattice stiffening within standard phonon-mediated BCS superconductivity., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

The dependence of Tc on hydrostatic (He-gas) pressure has been determined to 0.7 GPa. We find that Tc decreases linearly and reversibly under pressure at the rate dTc/dP = -1.11 +- 0.02 K/GPa. These studies were carried out on the same sample used in earlier structural studies under He-gas pressure which yielded the bulk modulus B = 147.2 +- 0.7 GPa. The value of the logarithmic volume derivative of Tc is thus accurately determined, dlnTc/dlnV = +4.16 +- 0.08, allowing quantitative comparison with theory. The present results support the emerging picture that MgB2 is a BCS superconductor with electron-phonon pairing interaction., Comment: revised version of paper submitted for publication on March 26, 2001

In previous studies on a number of under- and overdoped high temperature superconductors, including YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y} and Tl_{2}Ba_{2}CuO_{6+\delta}, the transition temperature T_c has been found to change with time in a manner which depends on the sample's detailed temperature and pressure history. This relaxation behavior in T_c is believed to originate from rearrangements within the oxygen sublattice. In the present high-pressure studies on HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} to 0.8 GPa we find clear evidence for weak relaxation effects in strongly under- and overdoped samples ($T_c\simeq 40 - 50 K$) with an activation energy $E_{A}(1 bar) \simeq 0.8 - 0.9 eV$. For overdoped HgBa_{2}CuO_{4+\delta} E_{A} increases under pressure more rapidly than previously observed for YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.41}, yielding an activation volume of +11 \pm 5 cm^{3}; the dependence of T_c on pressure is markedly nonlinear, an anomalous result for high-T_c superconductors in the present pressure range, giving evidence for a change in the electronic and/or structural properties near 0.4 GPa.