Prediction of Above-Room-Temperature Superconductivity in Lanthanide/Actinide Extreme Superhydrides

Xin Zhong; Ying Sun; Toshiaki Iitaka; Meiling Xu; Hanyu Liu; Russell J Hemley; Changfeng Chen; Yanming Ma

doi:10.1021/jacs.2c05834

Prediction of Above-Room-Temperature Superconductivity in Lanthanide/Actinide Extreme Superhydrides

J Am Chem Soc. 2022 Jul 27;144(29):13394-13400. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c05834. Epub 2022 Jul 12.

Authors

Xin Zhong^{1

2}, Ying Sun¹, Toshiaki Iitaka³, Meiling Xu⁴, Hanyu Liu^{1

5}, Russell J Hemley⁶, Changfeng Chen⁷, Yanming Ma^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials and International Center for Computational Method & Software, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
² Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Physics and Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Physics, Jilin Normal University, Changchun 130103, China.
³ Discrete Event Simulation Research Team, RIKEN Center for Computational Science, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
⁴ Laboratory of Quantum Functional Materials Design and Application, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁵ International Center of Future Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
⁶ Departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, United States.

PMID: 35820372
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c05834

Abstract

Achieving room-temperature superconductivity has been an enduring scientific pursuit driven by broad fundamental interest and enticing potential applications. The recent discovery of high-pressure clathrate superhydride LaH₁₀ with superconducting critical temperatures (T_c) of 250-260 K made it tantalizingly close to realizing this long-sought goal. Here, we report a remarkable finding based on an advanced crystal structure search method of a new class of extremely hydrogen-rich clathrate superhydride MH₁₈ (M: rare-earth/actinide atom) stoichiometric compounds stabilized at an experimentally accessible pressure of 350 GPa. These compounds are predicted to host T_c up to 330 K, which is well above room temperature. The bonding and electronic properties of these MH₁₈ clathrate superhydrides closely resemble those of atomic metallic hydrogen, giving rise to the highest T_c hitherto found in a thermodynamically stable hydride compound. An in-depth study of these extreme superhydrides offers insights for elucidating phonon-mediated superconductivity above room temperature in hydrogen-rich and other low-Z materials.