Defects in the atomic lattice of solids are sometimes desired. For example, atomic vacancies, single ones or more elaborated defective structures, can generate localized magnetic moments in a non magnetic crystalline lattice. Increasing their density to a few percent magnetic order can appear. Furthermore, certain two dimensional interfaces can give rise to localized superconductivity with a broad range of critical temperatures. Old and new experimental facts emphasize the need to join efforts to start using systematically "ordered defects" in solids to achieve room temperature superconductivity and magnetic order.
A long-standing problem of observing Room Temperature Superconductivity is finally solved by a novel approach. Instead of increasing the critical temperature Tc of a superconductor, the temperature of the room was decreased to an appropriate Tc value. We consider this approach more promising for obtaining a large number of materials possessing Room Temperature Superconductivity in the near future.
We report the observation of an exceptionally large room-temperature electrical conductivity in silver and aluminum layers deposited on a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) substrate. The surface resistance of the silver-coated samples also shows a sharp change near 313 K. The results are strongly suggestive of a superconductive interfacial layer, and have been interpreted in the framework of Bose-Einstein condensation of bipolarons as the suggested mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates.
Room temperature superconductivity has been the most prominent, highly ambitious, but still imaginable, acme of materials physics for half a century. The struggle toward this revolution was foreshadowed by a Victorian novelist and championed,unsuccessfully, by dogged physicists in the 1960s to 1980s who had a workable theory but uncompliant materials. Discovery of superconductivity of H$_3$S at 200 K in the 160-200 GPa pressure range has renewed anticipation of yet higher values of the critical temperature T$_c$. With the several reports of metalization of hydrogen, and theoretical extensions …
We have studied the magnetic response of two bulk highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) samples with different internal microstructure. For the sample with well defined interfaces, parallel to the graphene layers, the temperature and magnetic field hysteresis are similar to those found recently in water-treated graphite powders. The observed behavior indicates the existence of granular superconductivity above room temperature in agreement with previous reports in other graphite samples. The granular superconductivity behavior is observed only for fields normal to the embedded interfaces, w…
We investigate the role of specific phonon mode symmetries for the room temperature superconductivity in atomic hydrogen under large pressure. Using anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory with ab initio input from density functional theory, we show that the $E_u$ phonon modes are the dominant driving force for obtaining such high critical temperatures. When going from 400 to 600 GPa, we find an increased transition temperature, however, the total electron-phonon coupling strength is counterintuitively reduced. Our analysis reveals that this is due to an enhanced contribution to the coupling stre…
With a generic model for the electron-phonon spectral density, two simple expressions are derived to estimate the transition temperature and gap-to-temperature ratio in conventional superconductors. They entail that on average the numerical value of the phonon exchange factor, $λ$, is limited to 2.67, so that room temperature superconductivity may be attained only with a Debye temperature of about 1800 K or higher, in materials that may or may not involve hydrogen. They also show that a Be-Pb alloy may become a superconductor at $\sim$44 K.
The search for new superconducting materials approaching room temperature benefits from having a variety of testing methodologies to confirm and characterize the presence of superconductivity. Often the first signatures of new superconducting species occur incompletely and in very small volume fractions. These trace amounts may be too weak to produce an observable Meissner effect and the resistance may not go completely to zero if the percolation threshold is not met. Under these conditions, secondary behavior--such as transitions or cross overs in the temperature dependence of magnetoresistan…
Doped cuprates are inhomogeneous superconductors. The concept of an intrinsic critical temperature, Tcintr.$\equiv$ Tc*, whose value greatly exceeds that for the resistive Tcres.$\equiv$ Tc, is supported by a number of experimental studies, including those performed recently. These data are discussed in this review. The anomalous diamagnetism observed at Tcres.$\equiv$ <T< Tc* is a manifestation of the presence of superconducting clusters embedded into a normal metallic matrix. The value of intrinsic critical temperature in some cuprates reaches a value which is close to room temperature. The …
Signatures of room-temperature superconductivity emerging in two-dimensional domains within the new Bi/Pb-based ceramic cuprate superconductors at ambient pressure
Room temperature superconductivity is a dream that mankind has been chasing for a century. In recent years, the synthesis of H3S, LaH10 and C-S-H system has gradually made this dream a reality. But the extreme pressures required for the metallization of hydrogen-based superconductors limit their applications. In this work, we design a series of high temperature superconductors that can be stable at moderate pressures by incorporating heavy rare earth elements Yb/Lu into sodalite-like clathrate hydrides. In particular, the critical temperatures of Y3LuH24, YLuH12 and YLu3H24 are 283 K, 275 K an…
The phenomenon of high temperature superconductivity, approaching room temperature, has been realized in a number of hydrogen-dominant alloy systems under high pressure conditions1-12. A significant discovery in reaching room temperature superconductivity is the photo-induced reaction of sulfur, hydrogen, and carbon that initially forms of van der Waals solids at sub-megabar pressures. Carbonaceous sulfur hydride has been demonstrated to be tunable with respect to carbon content, leading to different superconducting final states with different structural symmetries. A modulated AC susceptibili…
We theoretically estimate the electron-phonon coupling constant lambda for metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes with a diameter of 1.4 nm. The partial electron-phonon coupling constant for the hardest phonon mode is estimated to be about 0.0036, in good agreement with that deduced from Raman scattering data assuming superconductivity above room temperature. Assuming no superconductivity, we estimate the room-temperature inelastic mean free path l_ep due to electron-phonon scattering to be about 0.46 micrometer, and the total room-temperature inelastic mean free path l_in to be about 0.16 mi…
The 2014-2015 prediction, discovery, and confirmation of record high temperature superconductivity above 200K in H$_3$S, followed by the 2018 extension to superconductivity in the 250-280K range in lanthanum hydride, marks a new era in the longstanding quest for room temperature superconductivity: quest achieved, at the cost of supplying 1.5-2 megabars of pressure. Predictions of numerous high temperature superconducting metal hydrides $XH_n$ ($X$=metal) have appeared, but are providing limited understanding of what drives the high transition temperature T$_c$, or what limits T$_c$. We apply a…
This is the first book on the subject of room-temperature superconductivity. The main purpose of the book is twofold. First, to show that, under suitable conditions, superconductivity can occur above room temperature. Secondly, to present general guidelines on how to synthesize a room temperature superconductor. The book begins with an introduction into the physics of the superconducting state and superconducting materials. The mechanisms of conventional, half-conventional and unconventional superconductivity are discussed in the following chapters. The last three chapters of the book are devo…
We propose to raise the critical temperature $T_c$ for superconductivity in doped C$_{60}$ molecular crystals by increasing the electronic density of states at the Fermi level $N(E_F)$ and thus the electron-phonon coupling constant in low-dimensional C$_{60}$ nanoarrays. We consider both electron and hole doping and present numerical results for $N(E_F)$, which increases with decreasing bandwidth of the partly filled $h_u$ and $t_{1u}$ derived frontier bands with decreasing coordination number of C$_{60}$. Whereas a significant increase of $N(E_F)$ occurs in 2D arrays of doped C$_{60}$ interca…
It is well known that copper-based perovskite oxides rightly enjoy consensus as high-temperature superconductors on the basis of two signatures: the resistive transition and the Meissner effect. We show that the resistive transitions in carbon nanotubes agree quantitatively with the Langer-Ambegaokar-McCumber-Halperin (LAMH) theory for quasi-1D superconductors although the superconducting transition temperatures can vary from 0.4 K to 750 K for different samples. We have also identified the Meissner effect in the field parallel to the tube axis up to room temperature for aligned and physically…
While it is known that the amplification of the superconducting critical temperature Tc is possible in a system of multiple electronic components in comparison with a single component system, many different road maps for room temperature superconductivity have been proposed for a variety of multicomponent scenarios. Here we focus on the scenario where the first electronic component is assumed to have a vanishing Fermi velocity corresponding to a case of the intermediate polaronic regime, and the second electronic component is in the weak coupling regime with standard high Fermi velocity using …
I shall discuss three small systems in which I think room-temperature superconductivity has been observed. These are: 1. Narrow channels through films of oxidised atactic polypropylene (OAPP) and other polymers. 2. Some multiwalled carbon nanotubes or mats of nanotubes. 3. Sandwich structures based on CdF_2. The main emphasis will be on polymer films.
We investigate the competition between the electron-vibron interaction (interaction with the Jahn-Teller phonons) and the Coulomb repulsion in a system with local pairing of electrons on the triply degenerate lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). The electron-vibron interaction radically changes conductivity and magnetic properties of alkali-doped fullerides AnC60, which should be antiferromagnetic Mott insulators: we have found that materials with n=1,2 and A=K,Rb are conductors but not superconductors; n=3 and A=K,Rb are conductors (superconductors at low temperatures), but with A=Cs a…
In the last 43 years several hints were reported suggesting the existence of granular superconductivity above room temperature in different graphite-based systems. In this paper some of the results are reviewed, giving special attention to those obtained in water and n-heptane treated graphite powders, commercial and natural bulk graphite samples with different characteristics as well as transmission electron microscope (TEM) lamellae. The overall results indicate that superconducting regions exist and are localized at certain internal interfaces of the graphite structure. The existence of the…
To synthesize a new superconductor which has a critical temperature, Tc, exceeding the room temperature, one needs to know what chemical components to start with. This chapter presents analysis of experimental data which allow one to draw a conclusion about components and the structure of a potential room-temperature superconductor. The two essential components of a room temperature superconductor are large organic molecules (polymers, tissues) and atoms/molecules which are magnetic in the intercalated state. This conclusion is fully based on experimental facts known today, and does not requir…
Emerets's experiments on pressurized sulfur hydride have shown that H3S metal has the highest known superconducting critical temperature Tc=203K. The Emerets data show pressure induced changes of the isotope coefficient between 0.25 and 0.5, in disagreement with Eliashberg theory which predicts a nearly constant isotope coefficient. We assign the pressure dependent isotope coefficient to Lifshitz transitions induced by pressure and zero point lattice fluctuations. It is known that pressure could induce changes of the topology of the Fermi surface, called Lifshitz transitions, but were neglecte…
Detailed analyses are made on previously published data for multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The field dependence of the Hall voltage, the temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient, and the magnetoresistance effect (Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 697 (1994)) can all be consistently explained in terms of the coexistence of physically separated tubes and Josephson-coupled superconducting tubes with superconductivity above room temperature. The observed temperature dependencies of the remnant magnetization, the diamagnetic susceptibility, and the conductance are consistent with superconductivity above r…
It is well known that copper-based perovskite oxides rightly enjoy consensus as high-temperature superconductors on the basis of two signatures: Meissner effect and zero resistance. In contrast, I provide over twenty signatures for room temperature superconductivity in carbon nanotubes. The one-dimensionality of the nanotubes complicates the right-of-passage for prospective quasi-one-dimensional superconductors. The Meissner effect is less visible because the diameters of nanotubes are much smaller than the penetration depth. Zero resistance is less obvious because of the quantum contact resis…
The maximum critical temperature for superconductivity in pressurized hydrides appears at the top of superconducting domes in Tc versus pressure curves at a particular pressure, which is not predicted by standard superconductivity theories. The a high-order anisotropic van Hove singularity near the Fermi level observed in band structure calculations of pressurized sulfur hydride, typical of a supermetal, has been associated with the array of metallic hydrogen wires modules forming a nanoscale heterostructure at atomic limit called superstripes phase. Here we propose that pressurized sulfur hyd…
Recently, Troyan et al (2019 arXiv:1908.01534) and Kong et al (2019 arXiv:1909.10482) extended near-room-temperature superconductors family by new yttrium superhydride polymorphs, YHn (n = 4,6,7,9), which exhibit superconducting transition temperatures in the range of Tc = 210-243 K at pressure of P = 160-255 GPa. In this paper, temperature dependent upper critical field data, Bc2(T), for highly-compressed mixture of YH4+YH6 phases (reported by Kong et al 2019 arXiv:1909.10482) is analysed to deduce the ratio of Tc to the Fermi temperature, Tf. Our analysis shows that in all considered scenari…
In this work, we show that the same theoretical tools that successfully explain other hydrides systems under pressure seem to be at odds with the recently claimed conventional room temperature superconductivity of the carbonaceous sulfur hydride. We support our conclusions with I) the absence of a dominant low-enthalpy stoichiometry and crystal structure in the ternary phase diagram. II) Only the thermodynamics of C-doping phases appears to be marginally competing in enthalpy against H$_3$S. III) Accurate results of the transition temperature given by ab initio Migdal-Eliashberg calculations d…
Trying to dope graphite flakes we found that the magnetization of pure, several tens of micrometers grain size graphite powder and after a simple treatment with pure water shows clear and reproducible granular superconducting behavior with a critical temperature above 300K. The observed magnetic characteristics as a function of temperature, magnetic field and time, provide evidence for weakly coupled grains through Josephson interaction, revealing the existence of superconducting vortices.
The flourishing rare earth superhydrides are a class of recently discovered materials that possess near-room-temperature superconductivity at high pressures, opening a new era of superconductivity research at high pressures. Among these superhydrides, yttrium superhydrides attracted great interest owing to their abundance of stoichiometries and excellent superconductivities. Here, we carried out a comprehensive study of yttrium superhydrides in a wide pressure range of 145-300 GPa. We successfully synthesized a series of superhydrides with the compositions of YH4, YH6, YH7, and YH9, and report…
The vision of ``room temperature superconductivity'' has appeared intermittently but prominently in the literature since 1964, when W. A. Little and V. L. Ginzburg began working on the `problem of high temperature superconductivity' around the same time. Since that time the prospects for room temperature superconductivity have varied from gloom (around 1980) to glee (the years immediately after the discovery of HTS), to wait-and-see (the current feeling). Recent discoveries have clarified old issues, making it possible to construct the blueprint for a viable room temperature superconductor.
Recently room temperature superconductivity with Tc=15 degrees Celsius has been discovered in a pressurized complex ternary hydride, CSHx, which is a carbon doped H3S alloy. The nanoscale structure of H3S is a particular realization of the 1993 patent claim of superlattice of quantum wires for room temperature superconductors where the maximum Tc occurs at the top of a superconducting dome. Here we focus on the electronic structure of materials showing nanoscale heterostructures at atomic limit made of a superlattice of quantum wires like hole doped cuprate perovskites, organics, A15 intermeta…
The search for room-temperature superconducting materials has been at the center of modern research for decades. The recent discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, under extreme pressure in hydrogen-rich materials, is a tremendous achievement in this research front. This discovery offers a route in the search for room temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure. The superconductivity of these hydrogen-rich materials was confirmed by the observation of zero-resistance, isotope effects, effect of magnetic field, and other standard properties. However, some of the experimental feat…
It is a honor to write a contribution on this memorial for Sandro Massidda. For both of us, at different stages of our life, Sandro was first and foremost a friend. We both admired his humble, playful and profound approach to life and physics. In this contribution we describe the route which permitted to meet a long-standing challenge in solid state physics, i.e. room temperature superconductivity. In less than 20 years the Tc of conventional superconductors, which in the last century had been widely believed to be limited to 25 K, was raised from 40 K in MgB2 to 265 K in LaH10. This discovery…
Recent theoretical and experimental studies of hydrogen-rich materials at megabar pressures (i.e., >100 GPa) have led to the discovery of very high-temperature superconductivity in these materials. Lanthanum superhydride LaH$_{10}$ has been of particular focus as the first material to exhibit a superconducting critical temperature (T$_c$) near room temperature. Experiments indicate that the use of ammonia borane as the hydrogen source can increase the conductivity onset temperatures of lanthanum superhydride to as high as 290 K. Here we examine the doping effects of B and N atoms on the superc…
We examine the effects of the low-level substitution of S atoms by C and Si atoms on the superconductivity of H$_3$S with the $Im\bar{3}m$ structure at megabar pressure. The hole doping can fine-tune the Fermi energy to reach the electronic density-of-states peak maximizing the electron-phonon coupling. This can boost the critical temperature from the original 203 K to 289 K and 283 K, respectively, for H$_3$S$_{0.962}$C$_{0.038}$ at 260 GPa and H$_3$S$_{0.960}$Si$_{0.040}$ at 230 GPa. The former may provide an explanation for the recent experimental observation of room-temperature superconduc…
By recognizing the vital importance of two-hole Cooper pairs (CPs) in addition to the usual two-electron ones in a strongly-interacting many-electron system, the concept of CPs was re-examined with striking conclusions. Based on this, Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) theory has been generalized to include not boson-boson interactions (also neglected in BCS theory) but rather boson-fermion (BF)interaction vertices reminiscent of the Frohlich electron-phonon interaction in metals. Unlike BCS theory, the GBEC model is not a mean-field theory restricted to weak-coupling as it can be diagonalized e…
Combining theory and certain striking phenomenology we suggest that silicene and germanene are \textit{elemental Mott insulators} and abode of doping induced high Tc superconductivity. In our theory, a 3 fold reduction in silicene $π- π^*$ band width, in comparison to graphene, and short range coulomb interactions enable Mott localization. Recent experimental results are invoked to provide support for our Mott insulator model: i) a significant $π$-band narrowing, in silicene on ZrB$_2$ seen in ARPES, ii) a superconducting gap appearing below 35 K with a large $\frac{2Δ}{k_BTc}\sim$ 20 in silic…
The two-dimensional electron gas at the crystalline LaAlO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$ (c-LAO/STO) interface has sparked large interest due to its exotic properties including an intriguing gate-tunable superconducting phase. While there is growing evidence of pronounced spatial inhomogeneity in the conductivity at STO-based interfaces, the consequences for superconductivity remain largely unknown. We study interfaces based on amorphous LAO top layers grown at room temperature (a-LAO/STO) and demonstrate a superconducting phase similar to c-LAO/STO, however, with a gate-tunable critical temperature of $46…
S-band metals such as alkali and alkaline earth metals do not undergo a superconducting transition (SCT) at an ambient pressure, but their high-pressure phases do. In contrast, room temperature stable electride electride (C12A7:e-) in which anionic electrons in the crystallographic sub-nanometer-size cages have high s-character exhibits SCT at 0.2-0.4K at an ambient pressure. In this paper we report that crystal and electronic structure of C12A7:e- are close to those of the high pressure superconducting phase of alkali and alkaline earth metals and the SCT of both materials is induced when ele…
The use of high pressure to realize superconductivity in the vicinity of room temperature has a long history, much of it focused on achieving this in hydrogen rich materials. This paper provides a brief overview of the work presented at this May 2018 conference, together with background on motivation and techniques, the theoretical predictions of superconductivity in lanthanum hydride, and the subsequent experimental confirmation. Theoretical calculations using density functional based structure search methods combined with BCS type models predicted a new class of dense, hydrogen rich material…
The model of hypothetical superconductivity, where the energy gap asymptotically approaches zero as temperature increases, has been proposed. Formally the critical temperature of such a superconductor is equal to infinity. For practical realization of the hypothesis a superconducting material with such properties is predicted.
The transition from normal state to superconductive state is a condensation (Bose-Einstein condensation) process. As an example of Bose-Einstein condensation, the condensation process of superconductivity is investigated in detail. The basic unit of superconductivity is condensation circuit, which should contain 4m+2 (m=1,2,...) electrons (holes). The perfect explanation for no resistance and complete diamagnetism are given by using condensation circuit. The quantum mechanics equation of superconductive state is constructed, and energy level equation of superconductive quantum state is given. …
