The suppression of magnetism and the development of superconductivity within the collapsed tetragonal phase of Ca0.67Sr0.33Fe2As2 at high pressure

Structural and electronic characterization of (Ca0.67Sr0.33)Fe2As2 has been performed as a func- tion of pressure up to 12 GPa using conventional and designer diamond anvil cells. The compound (Ca0.67Sr0.33)Fe2As2 behaves intermediate between its end members-CaFe2As2 and SrFe2As2- displaying a suppression of magnetism and the onset of superconductivity. Like other members of the AEFe2As2 family, (Ca0.67Sr0.33)Fe2As2 undergoes a pressure-induced isostructural volume collapse, which we associate with the development of As-As bonding across the mirror plane of the structure. This collapsed tetragonal phase abruptly cuts off the magnetic state, giving rise to superconductivity with a maximum Tc=22.2 K. The maximum Tc of the superconducting phase is not strongly correlated with any structural parameter, but its proximity to the abrupt suppression of magnetism as well as the volume collapse transition suggests that magnetic interactions and structural inhomogeneity may play a role in its development. The pressure-dependent evolution of the ordered states and crystal structures in (Ca,Sr)Fe2As2 provides an avenue to understand the generic behavior of the other members of the AEFe2As2 family.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Pressure-induced superconductivity in the giant Rashba system BiTeI

At ambient pressure, BiTeI is the first material found to exhibit a giant Rashba splitting of the bulk electronic bands. At low pressures, BiTeI undergoes a transition from trivial insulator to topological insulator. At still higher pressures, two structural transitions are known to occur. We have carried out a series of electrical resistivity and AC magnetic susceptibility measurements on BiTeI at pressure up to ~40 GPa in an effort to characterize the properties of the high-pressure phases. A previous calculation found that the high-pressure orthorhombic P4/nmm structure BiTeI is a metal. We find that this structure is superconducting with Tc values as high as 6 K. AC magnetic susceptibility measurements support the bulk nature of the superconductivity. Using electronic structure and phonon calculations, we compute Tc and find that our data is consistent with phonon-mediated superconductivity.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem

The burning of fossil fuels – especially coal, petrol, and diesel – is a major source of airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and a key contributor to the global burden of mortality and disease. Previous risk assessments have examined the health response to total PM2.5, not just PM2.5 from fossil fuel combustion, and have used a concentration-response function with limited support from the literature and data at both high and low concentrations. This assessment examines mortality associated with PM2.5 from only fossil fuel combustion, making use of a recent meta-analysis of newer studies with a wider range of exposure. We also estimated mortality due to lower respiratory infections (LRI) among children under the age of five in the Americas and Europe, regions for which we have reliable data on the relative risk of this health outcome from PM2.5 exposure. We used the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem to estimate global exposure levels to fossil-fuel related PM2.5 in 2012. Relative risks of mortality were modeled using functions that link long-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality, incorporating nonlinearity in the concentration response. We estimate a global total of 10.2 (95% CI: -47.1 to 17.0) million premature deaths annually attributable to the fossil-fuel component of PM2.5. The greatest mortality impact is estimated over regions with substantial fossil fuel related PM2.5, notably China (3.9 million), India (2.5 million) and parts of eastern US, Europe and Southeast Asia. The estimate for China predates substantial decline in fossil fuel emissions and decreases to 2.4 million premature deaths due to 43.7% reduction in fossil fuel PM2.5 from 2012 to 2018 bringing the global total to 8.7 (95% CI: -1.8 to 14.0) million premature deaths. We also estimated excess annual deaths due to LRI in children (0-4 years old) of 876 in North America, 747 in South America, and 605 in Europe. This study demonstrates that the fossil fuel component of PM2.5 contributes a large mortality burden. The steeper concentration-response function slope at lower concentrations leads to larger estimates than previously found in Europe and North America, and the slower drop-off in slope at higher concentrations results in larger estimates in Asia. Fossil fuel combustion can be more readily controlled than other sources and precursors of PM2.5 such as dust or wildfire smoke, so this is a clear message to policymakers and stakeholders to further incentivize a shift to clean sources of energy