Experimental and theoretical investigations on effects of hydrostatic pressure on the electrical properties of rhombohedral Sb₂Te ₃

We have investigated the effect of the hydrostatic pressure on the electrical properties of the rhombohedral phase change material Sb ₂Te₃ both experimentally and theoretically. The resistance can be reduced by 24.9% when the applied hydrostatic pressure reaches 0.377 GPa in the experiment, which is consistent with the results of the calculations by using the first principles theoretical method. The increase of the conductivity of Sb₂Te₃ under the hydrostatic pressure can be ascribed to the reduction of the electronic band gap.