Superconductivity Induced by Breaking Te2 Dimers of AuTe2

Mineral calaverite AuTe2 is a layered compound with an incommensurately modulated structure. The modulation is characterized by the formation of molecular-like Te2 dimers. We have found that the breaking of Te2 dimers that occurs in Au1-xPtxTe2 results in the emergence of superconductivity at \(T_{\text{c}} = 4.0\) K.