No Arabic abstract
Subsequent to our recent report of SDW type transition at 190 K and antiferromagnetic order below 20 K in EuFe2As2, we have studied the effect of K-doping on the SDW transition at high temperature and AF order at low temperature. 50% K doping suppresses the SDW transition and in turn gives rise to high-temperature superconductivity below T_c = 32 K, as observed in the electrical resistivity, AC susceptibility as well as magnetization. A well defined anomaly in the specific heat provides additional evidence for bulk superconductivity.
The discoveries of high-temperature superconductivity in H3S and LaH10 have excited the search for superconductivity in compressed hydrides. In contrast to rapidly expanding theoretical studies, high-pressure experiments on hydride superconductors are expensive and technically challenging. Here we experimentally discover superconductivity in two new phases,Fm-3m-CeH10 (SC-I phase) and P63/mmc-CeH9 (SC-II phase) at pressures that are much lower (<100 GPa) than those needed to stabilize other polyhydride superconductors. Superconductivity was evidenced by a sharp drop of the electrical resistance to zero, and by the decrease of the critical temperature in deuterated samples and in an external magnetic field. SC-I has Tc=115 K at 95 GPa, showing expected decrease on further compression due to decrease of the electron-phonon coupling (EPC) coefficient {lambda} (from 2.0 at 100 GPa to 0.8 at 200 GPa). SC-II has Tc = 57 K at 88 GPa, rapidly increasing to a maximum Tc ~100 K at 130 GPa, and then decreasing on further compression. This maximum of Tc is due to a maximum of {lambda} at the phase transition from P63/mmc-CeH9 into a symmetry-broken modification C2/c-CeH9. The pressure-temperature conditions of synthesis affect the actual hydrogen content, and the actual value of Tc. Anomalously low pressures of stability of cerium superhydrides make them appealing for studies of superhydrides and for designing new superhydrides with even lower pressures of stability.
Pressure-stabilized hydrides are a new rapidly growing class of high-temperature superconductors which is believed to be described within the conventional phonon-mediated mechanism of coupling. Here we report the synthesis of yttrium hexahydride Im3m-YH$_6$ that demonstrates the superconducting transition with T$_c$ = 224 K at 166 GPa, much lower than the theoretically predicted (>270 K). The measured upper critical magnetic field B$_c$$_2$(0) of YH$_6$ was found to be 116-158 T, which is 2-2.5 times larger than the calculated value. A pronounced shift of T$_c$ in yttrium deuteride YD$_6$ with the isotope coefficient 0.4 supports the phonon-assisted superconductivity. Current-voltage measurements showed that the critical current I$_c$ and its density J$_c$ may exceed 1.75 A and 3500 A/mm$^2$ at 0 K, respectively, which is comparable with the parameters of commercial superconductors, such as NbTi and YBCO. The superconducting density functional theory (SCDFT) and anharmonic calculations suggest unusually large impact of the Coulomb repulsion in this compound. The results indicate notable departures of the superconducting properties of the discovered YH$_6$ from the conventional Migdal-Eliashberg and Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theories.
Due to its low atomic mass hydrogen is the most promising element to search for high-temperature phononic superconductors. However, metallic phases of hydrogen are only expected at extreme pressures (400 GPa or higher). The measurement of a record superconducting critical temperature of 190 K in a hydrogen-sulfur compound at 200 GPa of pressure[1], shows that metallization of hydrogen can be reached at significantly lower pressure by inserting it in the matrix of other elements. In this work we re-investigate the phase diagram and the superconducting properties of the H-S system by means of minima hopping method for structure prediction and Density Functional theory for superconductors. We also show that Se-H has a similar phase diagram as its sulfur counterpart as well as high superconducting critical temperature. We predict SeH3 to exceed 120 K superconductivity at 100 GPa. We show that both SeH3 and SH3, due to the critical temperature and peculiar electronic structure, present rather unusual superconducting properties.
Room-temperature superconductivity has been one of the most challenging subjects in modern physics. Recent experiments reported that lanthanum hydride LaH$_{10{pm}x}$ ($x$$<$1) raises a superconducting transition temperature $T_{rm c}$ up to ${sim}$260 (or 215) K at high pressures around 190 (150) GPa. Here, based on first-principles calculations, we reveal the existence of topological Dirac-nodal-line (DNL) states in compressed LaH$_{10}$. Remarkably, the DNLs protected by the combined inversion and time-reversal symmetry and the rotation symmetry create a van Hove singularity (vHs) near the Fermi energy, giving rise to large electronic density of states. Contrasting with other La hydrides containing cationic La and anionic H atoms, LaH$_{10}$ shows a peculiar characteristic of electrical charges with anionic La and both cationic and anionic H species, caused by a strong hybridization of the La $f$ and H $s$ orbitals. We find that a large number of electronic states at the vHs are strongly coupled to the H-derived high-frequency phonon modes that are induced via the unusual, intricate bonding network of LaH$_{10}$, thereby yielding a high $T_{rm c}$. Our findings not only elucidate the microscopic origin of the observed high-$T_{rm c}$ BCS-type superconductivity in LaH$_{10}$, but also pave the route for achieving room-temperature topological superconductors in compressed hydrogen-rich compounds.
A brief history of the discovery of new superconductors is given. Different types of pairing mechanisms are considered. By comparing Tcs in different cuprate families it is concluded that the pairing in the CuO2 layers must be supplemented by interactions elsewhere in the unit cell. This conclusion is reached simply by considering the significant variations in Tc that are found in structures that have the same sequence of CuO2 layers within the unit cell but have different intervening layers. A quasi-particle is postulated to account for pairing found in the double chain layer of the Pr247 cuprate and may also exist in the CuO2 layers of all the cuprates.