Structural Behaviour of CrAs across the First-Order Magnetic Transition at Low Temperatures and High Pressures

Chromium arsenide (CrAs) exhibits a first-order magnetic phase transition and pressure-induced superconductivity. The magnetic properties are strongly coupled to the crystal structure, which is expected to play a major role in the understanding of the superconductivity. Recent structural measurements - separately at low temperatures and at high pressures - show that a significantly distinguished behaviour is observed for one particular Cr-Cr distance, which has been linked to magnetic fluctuations essential for the pairing mechanism of the superconductivity. With the proposed single-crystal measurements, we aim to study to crystal structure behaviour of CrAs at high pressure/low temperature conditions close to the superconducting phase region to further elucidate the nature of the superconductivity.