Superconductivity at 161 K in Thorium Hydride $Th{H}_{10}$: Synthesis and Properties

Abstract

Here we report targeted high-pressure synthesis of two novel high-$T_C$ hydride superconductors, $P{6}_3/mmc$-$Th{H}_9$ and $Fm\bar{3}m$-$Th{H}_{10}$, with the experimental critical temperatures ($T_C$) of 146 K and 159-161 K and upper critical magnetic fields ($\mu$$H_C$) 38 and 45 Tesla at pressures 170-175 Gigapascals, respectively. Superconductivity was evidenced by the observation of zero resistance and a decrease of $T_C$ under external magnetic field up to 16 Tesla. This is one of the highest critical temperatures that has been achieved experimentally in any compounds, along with such materials as $La{H}_{10}$, $H_{3}S$ and $HgB{a}_{2}C{a}_{x}C{u}_2{O}_{6+z}$. Our experiments show that $fcc$-$Th{H}_{10}$ has stabilization pressure of 85 GPa, making this material unique among all known high-$T_C$ metal polyhydrides. Two recently predicted Th-H compounds, $I4/mmm$-$Th{H}_4$ (> 86 GPa) and $Cmc{2}_1$-$Th{H}_6$ (86-104 GPa), were also synthesized. Equations of state of obtained thorium polyhydrides were measured and found to perfectly agree with the theoretical calculations. New phases were examined theoretically and their electronic, phonon, and superconducting properties were calculated.

15 pages, 6 figures, 1 tables, Supporting Information

References in corpus (10)

• Quantum ESPRESSO: a modular and open-source software project for quantum simulations of materials
• Phonons and related properties of extended systems from density-functional perturbation theory
• Double-slit photoelectron interference in strong-field ionization of the neon dimer
• Conventional superconductivity at 203 K at high pressures
• Superconductivity at 250 K in lanthanum hydride under high pressures
• Evidence for superconductivity above 260 K in lanthanum superhydride at megabar pressures
• High-Temperature Superconductivity in Th-H System at Pressure Conditions
• Actinium hydrides $Ac{H}_{10}$, $Ac{H}_{12}$, $Ac{H}_{16}$ as high-temperature conventional superconductors
• Dissociation of high-pressure solid molecular hydrogen: Quantum Monte Carlo and anharmonic vibrational study
• Superconductivity of $La{H}_{10}$ and $La{H}_{16}$ polyhydrides

Cited by in corpus (104)

• Anomalous high-temperature superconductivity in YH${}_6$
• Quantum Crystal Structure in the 250 K Superconducting Lanthanum Hydride
• Superconductivity at 253 K in lanthanum-yttrium ternary hydrides
• Superconductivity above 200 K Observed in Superhydrides of Calcium
• High-Temperature Superconductivity in Cerium Superhydrides
• LaBH${}_8$: the first high-T${}_c$ low-pressure superhydride
• On Distribution of Superconductivity in Metal Hydrides
• Hydrogen "penta-graphene-like" structure stabilized by hafnium: a high-temperature conventional superconductor
• Prediction of high-Tc superconductivity in ternary lanthanum borohydrides
• Superconducting Praseodymium Superhydrides
• Imaging the Meissner effect and flux trapping in a hydride superconductor at megabar pressures using a nanoscale quantum sensor
• High-Pressure Synthesis of Barium Superhydrides: Pseudocubic BaH12
• Superconductivity of $La{H}_{10}$ and $La{H}_{16}$ polyhydrides
• High-Pressure Synthesis of Magnetic Neodymium Polyhydrides
• Electronegativity and chemical hardness of the elements under pressure
• High-throughput discovery of high-temperature conventional superconductors
• Nonstandard superconductivity or no superconductivity in hydrides under high pressure
• Tuning Chemical Precompression: Theoretical Design and Crystal Chemistry of Novel Hydrides in the Quest for Warm and Light Superconductivity at Ambient Pressures
• Predicting novel superconducting hydrides using machine learning approaches
• Search for ambient superconductivity in the Lu-N-H system
• Superconductivity above 70 K observed in lutetium polyhydrides
• Phase Diagram and Superconductivity of Calcium Borohyrides at Extreme Pressures
• Novel Strongly Correlated Europium Superhydrides
• High-temperature superconductivity in hydrides
• Absence of high temperature superconductivity in hydrides under pressure
• Synthesis and Superconductivity in yttrium superhydrides under high pressure
• First-principles study on the electronic structure of Pb${}_{10-x}$Cu${}_x$(PO${}_4$)${}_6$O ($x$=0, 1)
• Absence of magnetic evidence for superconductivity in hydrides under high pressure
• Al-Based Few-Hydrogen Metal-Bonded Perovskite High-$T_c$ Superconductor Al${}_4$H up to 54 K under Atmospheric Pressure
• Meissner effect in nonstandard superconductors
• Stabilization mechanism of clathrate H cages in a room-temperature superconductor LaH${}_{10}$
• Pressure induced superconductivity in WB2 and ReB2 through modifying the B layers
• The electron-phonon coupling constant and the Debye temperature in polyhydrides of thorium, hexadeuteride of yttrium, and metallic hydrogen phase III
• Classifying superconductivity in Moiré graphene superlattices
• Future Study of Dense Superconducting Hydrides at High Pressure
• Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior of Superconducting SnH${}_4$
• Effect of nitrogen doping and pressure on the stability of LuH${}_3$
• Metal Borohydrides as high-$T_c$ ambient pressure superconductors
• On parent structures of near-ambient nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride superconductor
• Pressure-induced reemergence of superconductivity in BaIr2Ge7 and Ba3Ir4Ge16 with cage structures
• Evidence against superconductivity in flux trapping experiments on hydrides under high pressure & On magnetic field screening and expulsion in hydride superconductors
• (La,Th)H${}_{10}$: the potential high-$T_c$ superconductors stabilized thermodynamically below 200 GPa
• Large negative magnetoresistance and pseudogap phase in superconducting A15-type La${}_4$H${}_{23}$
• Sr-Doped Molecular Hydrogen: Synthesis and Properties of SrH${}_{22}$
• A recipe for an effective selection of promising candidates for high-temperature superconductors among binary hydrides
• Prediction of Room-Temperature Superconductivity in Quasi-atomic H2-Type Hydrides at High Pressure
• Flux trapping in superconducting hydrides under high pressure
• Superconductivity Observed in Tantalum Polyhydride at High Pressure
• Structure and composition of C-S-H compounds up to 143 GPa
• Resistive transition of hydrogen-rich superconductors
• Superconductivity of Light-Elements Doped H${}_3$S
• Vortex phase dynamics in yttrium superhydride YH${}_6$ at megabar pressures
• Experimental evidence for orthorhombic Fddd crystal structure in elemental yttrium above 100 GPa
• Data-driven Design of High Pressure Hydride Superconductors using DFT and Deep Learning
• Quantifying nonadiabaticity in major families of superconductors
• Universal Fermi velocity in highly compressed hydride superconductors
• High-temperature superconductivity in Li${}_2$AuH${}_6$ mediated by strong electron-phonon coupling under ambient pressure
• Superconducting hydrides on a quantum landscape
• Superconductivity Discovered in Niobium Polyhydride at High Pressures
• Classifying superconductivity in ThH-ThD superhydrides/superdeuterides
• First Principles Prediction Unveils High-T${}_c$ Superconductivity in YSc${}_2$H${}_{24}$ Cage Structures
• Diamond anvil cell with boron-doped diamond heater for high-pressure synthesis and in-situ transport measurements
• Quantifying the charge carrier interaction in metallic twisted graphene superlattices
• The electron-phonon coupling constant, the Fermi temperature and unconventional superconductivity in the carbonaceous sulfur hydride 190 K superconductor
• Quantifying the nonadiabaticity strength constant in recently discovered highly-compressed superconductors
• First-principles prediction of Structural Stability and Thermoelectric Properties of SrGaSnH
• A-15 type superconducting hydride $L{a}_4{H}_{23}$: Nanograined structure with low strain, strong electron-phonon interaction, and moderate level of nonadiabaticity
• Electron-phonon coupling constant and BCS ratios in (La,Nd)-H superhydride
• High-$T$${}_{\text{C}}$ Superconductivity in Hydrogen Clathrates Mediated by Coulomb Interactions between Hydrogen and Central-Atom Electrons
• Comparison of highly-compressed C2/m-SnH12 superhydride with conventional superconductors
• Enhanced superconductivity in C-S-H compounds at high pressure
• Hydrogen in superconductors
• Quasi Two-dimensional Vortex Matter in ThH${}_{10}$ Superhydride
• Prediction of an unusual trigonal phase of superconducting LaH${}_{10}$ stable from 250 to 425 GPa pressure
• $d$-wave superconductivity as a model for diborides apart MgB${}_2$
• Superconductivity at ~70 K in Tin Hydride SnHx under High Pressure
• Quantum and temperature effects on crystal structure of superhydride: A path integral molecular dynamics study
• Superconductivity with Tc 116K discovered in antimony polyhydrides
• Fermi-liquid nonadiabatic highly-compressed cesium iodide superconductor
• Classifying charge carrier interaction in highly-compressed elements and silane
• Superconductor discovery in the emerging paradigm of Materials Informatics
• Debye temperature in LaHx-LaDy superconductors
• In-plane p-wave coherence length in iron-based superconductors
• Demonstration of Electric Double Layer Gating under High Pressure by the Development of Field-Effect Diamond Anvil Cell
• Intrinsic hysteresis in the presumed superconducting transition of hydrides under high pressure
• Advanced McMillan's equation and its application for the analysis of highly-compressed superconductors
• Stability and Superconductivity of Ternary Polyhydrides
• Phase diagram and superconductivity of Calcium Alanates under pressure
• Carbonaceous sulfur hydride system: the strong-coupled room-temperature superconductor with a low value of Ginzburg-Landau parameter
• Synthesis of technetium hydride TcH${}_{1.3}$ at 27 GPa
• Crystal Chemistry at High Pressure
• Transmission of radio-frequency waves and nuclear magnetic resonance in lanthanum superhydrides
• Einstein and Debye temperatures, electron-phonon coupling constant and a probable mechanism for ambient-pressure room-temperature superconductivity in intercalated graphite
• Unconventional superconductivity in $\zeta$-phase of oxygen compressed to megabar pressure
• Massive electrons and unconventional room-temperature superconductivity in superhydrides
• Characterization of near-room-temperature superconductivity in yttrium superhydrides
• Observation of the Josephson effect in superhydrides: DC SQUID based on (La,Ce)H${}_{10+x}$ with operating temperature of 179 K
• Double-valued strong-coupling corrections to Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer ratios
• Temperature of superconducting transition for very strong coupling in antiadiabatic limit of Eliashberg equations
• Enhancement of superconductivity on thin film of Sn under high pressure
• Photochemical Synthesis of P-S-H Ternary Hydride at High Pressures
• GEWUM: General Exploration Workflow for the Utopia of Materials: A Unified Platform for Automated Structure Generation, Selection, and Validation
• Analytical solution of the Eliashberg equations for strong-coupling superconductivity in hydrides
• Applied electric field instead of pressure in H-based superconductors