Superconducting-insulating quantum phase transition associated with valence change in compressed perovskite bismuth-oxides

Searching for a universal trend by the same tuning method in different high-temperature superconductors with a similar crystal structure is a common strategy to find clues for a better understanding of the superconducting mechanism in a unified way. It is known that the hole-doped bismuth-oxide Ba1-xKxBiO3 possesses a similar perovskite structure to that of the hole-doped copper-oxide (cuprate) superconductors but also holds a comparatively high superconducting transition temperature. In this study, we report the first observation of the pressure-induced quantum phase transition (QPT) from superconducting to insulating states in a series of Ba1-xKxBiO3 single-crystal samples. A similar QPT has also been observed recently in the compressed cuprate superconductors1. Significantly, we found that the QPT observed in Ba1-xKxBiO3 is intriguingly associated with the valence change of the Bi ions in the material. These results lead us to propose that the pressure-induced valence change from Bi3+ to Bi5+ destroys the hole-doping effect on stabilizing the conductivity and corresponding superconductivity. By comparing the high-pressure behaviors observed in these two kinds of oxides, we identified another prominent feature shared by them - the more the hole-doping concentration, the higher the critical pressure required for driving the QPT.