High-temperature superconductivity on the verge of a structural instability in lanthanum superhydride

Abstract

A possibility of high, room-temperature superconductivity was predicted for metallic hydrogen in the 1960s. However, metallization and superconductivity of hydrogen are yet to be unambiguously demonstrated in the laboratory and may require pressures as high as 5 million atmospheres. Rare earth based "superhydrides" such as LaH10 can be considered a close approximation of metallic hydrogen even though they form at moderately lower pressures. In superhydrides the predominance of H-H metallic bonds and high superconducting transition temperatures bear the hallmarks of metallic hydrogen. Still, experimental studies revealing the key factors controlling their superconductivity are scarce. Here, we report on the pressure and magnetic field response of the superconducting order observed in LaH10. For LaH10 we find a correlation between superconductivity and a structural instability, strongly affecting the lattice vibrations responsible for the superconductivity.

References in corpus (5)

• Quantum ESPRESSO: a modular and open-source software project for quantum simulations of materials
• Superconductivity at 253 K in lanthanum-yttrium ternary hydrides
• High-Temperature Superconductivity in Cerium Superhydrides
• Superconducting Phase-Diagram of H3S under High Magnetic Fields
• Soft-phonon-driven superconductivity in CaAlSi as seen by inelastic x-ray scattering

Cited by in corpus (31)

• Enhancement of the superconducting critical temperature realized in the La-Ce-H system at moderate pressures
• Efficient route to achieve superconductivity improvement via substitutional La-Ce alloy superhydride at high pressure
• High-temperature superconductivity in hydrides: experimental evidence and details
• Trapped magnetic flux in hydrogen-rich high-temperature superconductors
• On membrane-based approaches for rare earths separation and extraction-recent developments
• High-temperature superconductivity in hydrides
• Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior of Superconducting SnH${}_4$
• Large negative magnetoresistance and pseudogap phase in superconducting A15-type La${}_4$H${}_{23}$
• Room-Temperature Superconductivity in Boron-Nitrogen Doped Lanthanum Superhydride
• Vortex phase dynamics in yttrium superhydride YH${}_6$ at megabar pressures
• Effect of Doping on the phase stability and Superconductivity in LaH10
• Progress, problems and prospects of room-temperature superconductivity
• Superconducting dome in ferroelectric-type materials from soft mode instability
• Universal Fermi velocity in highly compressed hydride superconductors
• A-15 type superconducting hydride $L{a}_4{H}_{23}$: Nanograined structure with low strain, strong electron-phonon interaction, and moderate level of nonadiabaticity
• Quantifying the nonadiabaticity strength constant in recently discovered highly-compressed superconductors
• Fundamental limits on the electron-phonon coupling and superconducting $T_c$
• Electron-phonon coupling constant and BCS ratios in (La,Nd)-H superhydride
• $d$-wave superconductivity as a model for diborides apart MgB${}_2$
• Ternary superhydrides under pressure of Anderson's theorem: Near-record superconductivity in (La,Sc)H${}_{12}$
• Stability and distortion of fcc-LaH${}_{10}$ with path-integral molecular dynamics
• Pressure-induced superconductivity reentrant in transition metal dichalcogenide TiSe2
• Quantum and temperature effects on crystal structure of superhydride: A path integral molecular dynamics study
• Impact of electronic correlations on the superconductivity of high-pressure CeH${}_9$
• Bounds on $T_c$ in the Eliashberg theory of Superconductivity. I: The $\gamma$-model
• Superconductor discovery in the emerging paradigm of Materials Informatics
• Einstein and Debye temperatures, electron-phonon coupling constant and a probable mechanism for ambient-pressure room-temperature superconductivity in intercalated graphite
• Observation of the Josephson effect in superhydrides: DC SQUID based on (La,Ce)H${}_{10+x}$ with operating temperature of 179 K
• The Isotope Effect and Critical Magnetic Fields of Superconducting YH${}_6$: A Migdal-Eliashberg Theory Approach
• Iterative learning scheme for crystal structure prediction with anharmonic lattice dynamics
• Capturing nuclear quantum effects in high-pressure superconducting hydrides and ice with nuclear-electronic orbital theory