Superatomic states under high pressure

Rui Wang; Xinrui Yang; Wanrong Huang; Zhonghua Liu; Yu Zhu; Hanyu Liu; Zhigang Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106281

Superatomic states under high pressure

iScience. 2023 Mar 1;26(4):106281. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106281. eCollection 2023 Apr 21.

Authors

Rui Wang¹, Xinrui Yang¹, Wanrong Huang¹, Zhonghua Liu¹, Yu Zhu¹, Hanyu Liu², Zhigang Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Atomic and Molecular Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
² International Center for Computational Method & Software and State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
³ Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130023, China.

Abstract

The study of superatoms has attracted great interest since they apparently go beyond the traditional understanding of the periodic table of elements. In this work, we clearly show that superatoms can be extended from conventional structures to states under pressure condition. By studying the compression process of the CH₄@C₆₀ system formed via embedding methane molecules inside fullerene C₆₀, it is found that the system maintains superatomic properties in both static states, and even dynamic rotation situations influenced by quantum tunneling. Remarkably, the simulations reveal the emergence of new superatomic molecular orbitals by decreasing the confined space to approach the van der Waals boundary between CH₄ and C₆₀. Our current results not only establish a complete picture of superatoms from ambient condition to high pressure, but also offer a perspective for the discovery and exploration of new properties in superatom systems under extreme conditions.

Keywords: Atomic physics; Atomic properties; State of matter.