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Design Principles for High-Temperature Superconductors with a Hydrogen-Based Alloy Backbone at Moderate Pressure.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Zhang, Zihan 
Cui, Tian 
Hutcheon, Michael J 
Shipley, Alice M 
Song, Hao 

Abstract

Hydrogen-based superconductors provide a route to the long-sought goal of room-temperature superconductivity, but the high pressures required to metallize these materials limit their immediate application. For example, carbonaceous sulfur hydride, the first room-temperature superconductor made in a laboratory, can reach a critical temperature (T_{c}) of 288 K only at the extreme pressure of 267 GPa. The next recognized challenge is the realization of room-temperature superconductivity at significantly lower pressures. Here, we propose a strategy for the rational design of high-temperature superconductors at low pressures by alloying small-radius elements and hydrogen to form ternary H-based superconductors with alloy backbones. We identify a "fluorite-type" backbone in compositions of the form AXH_{8}, which exhibit high-temperature superconductivity at moderate pressures compared with other reported hydrogen-based superconductors. The Fm3[over ¯]m phase of LaBeH_{8}, with a fluorite-type H-Be alloy backbone, is predicted to be thermodynamically stable above 98 GPa, and dynamically stable down to 20 GPa with a high T_{c}∼185  K. This is substantially lower than the synthesis pressure required by the geometrically similar clathrate hydride LaH_{10} (170 GPa). Our approach paves the way for finding high-T_{c} ternary H-based superconductors at conditions close to ambient pressures.

Description

Keywords

51 Physical Sciences, 5104 Condensed Matter Physics

Journal Title

Phys Rev Lett

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0031-9007
1079-7114

Volume Title

Publisher

American Physical Society (APS)
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P022596/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015552/1)