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 strength by the $E_u$ phonon mode.
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.
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 superconductivi…
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 …
Two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) are an emerging class of atomically-thin superconductors, whose characteristics are highly prone to tailoring by surface functionalization. Here we explore the use of hydrogen adatoms to enhance phonon-mediated superconductivity in MXenes, based on first-principles calculations combined with Eliashberg theory. We first demonstrate the stability of three different structural models of hydrogenated Mo- and W-based MXenes. Particularly high critical temperatures of over 30 K are obtained for hydrogenated Mo$_2$N and W$_2$N. Several m…
The difference in thermal stability of F- and H- in 1111-type iron based superconductors, allows selective hydrogen elimination from non-superconductive CaFeAsF0.8H0.2 by thermal annealing. The analyzed chemical composition of the resulting samples indicates that incorporated hydrogen was selectively eliminated by thermal annealing at 553 K for 72 hours. The resulting hydrogen-eliminated sample shows bulk superconductivity with Tc = 29 K. This technique may be used for indirect electron doping for AeFeAeF (Ae; alkali-earth metal) iron based superconductor described by CaFeAsF1-xHx => CaFeAsF1-…
Within the BCS theory of superconductivity we calculate the superconducting gap at zero temperature for metallic hydrogen-graphene system in order to estimate the superconducting critical temperature of quasi two dimensional highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. The obtained results are given as a function of the hydrogen-induced density of carriers $n$ and their effective mass $m^\star$. The obtained gap shows a Maxwell-like distribution with a maximum of $\sim 60 $K at $n \sim 3 \times 10^{14} $cm$^{-2}$ and $m^\star/m = 1$. The theoretical results are discussed taking into account recent expe…
Hydrogen-based compounds under ultra-high pressure, such as the polyhydrides H$_3$S and LaH$_{10}$, superconduct through the conventional electron-phonon coupling mechanism to attain the record critical temperatures known to date. We demonstrate here that the intrinsic advantages of hydrogen for phonon-mediated superconductivity can be exploited in a completely different system, namely two-dimensional (2D) materials. We find that hydrogen adatoms can strongly enhance superconductivity in 2D materials due to flatband states originating from atomic-like hydrogen orbitals, with a resulting high d…
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…
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$44 K.
Unique to certain unconventional superconductors is the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity. We have previously found ferromagnetism and superconductivity in hydrogenated graphitic materials. Herein we present similar as well as completely new findings this time applicable to hydrogenated graphite foils. As the strength of the magnetic field is increased, the temperature-dependent magnetization shows several important transitions. From a Neel paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition, to a ferromagnetic superconductor state, to an orbital paramagnetic glass high-temperature supercon…
The search for new superconducting materials approaching room temperature benefits from having a variety of testing methodologies to confirm and characterize the presence of superconductivity. Often the first signatures of new superconducting species occur incompletely and in very small volume fractions. These trace amounts may be too weak to produce an observable Meissner effect and the resistance may not go completely to zero if the percolation threshold is not met. Under these conditions, secondary behavior--such as transitions or cross overs in the temperature dependence of magnetoresistan…
Doped cuprates are inhomogeneous superconductors. The concept of an intrinsic critical temperature, Tcintr.$\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
High-critical-temperature (Tc) superconductivity at 48 K is reported for hydrogen-doped SmFeAsO epitaxial films on MgO single-crystal substrates. The key processes are pulsed laser deposition to grow undoped SmFeAsO epitaxial films and subsequent topotactic chemical reaction using CaH2 powders under evacuated silica-glass ampule atmosphere. Based on this post-deposition thermal annealing treatment that we have developed, a maximum hydrogen concentration x = ~0.35 was realized in SmFeAs(O1-xHx). Disordered hydrogen-substitution at O sites is experimentally confirmed directly by atomic-scale mic…
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…
Superconductive H3S synthesized from H2S is very poorly crystallized, and has excess sulfur as impurity (3H2S -> 2H3S + S). The phase transition process undergoes in sulfur excess condition, which might cause hydrogen deficiency. The influence of hydrogen deficiency is not clear. Therefore investigation on the superconductivity in H3S with no hydrogen deficiency is demanded. Two groups performed synthesis of H3S from elemental sulfur and hydrogen (direct synthesis) and their results have shown that no hydrogen deficiency is caused when the direct synthesis is performed under hydrogen excessive…
We present detailed studies of the superconductivity in high-pressure H3S. X-ray diffraction measurements show that cubic Im-3m H3S was synthesized from elemental sulfur and hydrogen donor ammonia borane (NH3BH3). Our electrical transport measurements confirm superconductivity with a transition temperature Tc = 197 K at 153 GPa. From the analysis of both the normal state resistivity and the slope of the critical field, we conclude that the superconductivity is described by clean-limit behaviour. A significant broadening of the resistive transition in finite magnetic field is found, as expected…
We have shown that adiabatic electronic structure of superconducting phase of sulphur hydride at 200 GPa is unstable toward vibration motion of H-atoms. Theoretical study indicates that in coupling to H-vibrations, system undergoes transition from adiabatic into stabilised anti-adiabatic multi-gap superconducting state at temperature which can reach 203 K.
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 recently synthesized hydrogen boride monolayer in the Cmmm phase is a promising super-conductor due to its similarity to MgB2 and the large hydrogen content in its structure. Making use of first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we study its electronic, vibrational,and superconducting properties and conclude that, despite the expectations, hydrogen boride does not have a sizable superconducting critical temperature. The presence of hydrogen in the system alters the boron-boron bonding, weakening the electron-phonon interaction. We have studied the effect of enhanc…
In a short review-article we first discuss the results, which are mainly devoted to the generalizations of the famous Kohn-Luttinger mechanism of superconductivity in purely repulsive fermion systems at low electron densities. In the context of repulsive-U Hubbard model and Shubin-Vonsovsky model we consider briefly the superconducting phase diagrams and the symmetries of the order parameter in novel strongly correlated electron systems including idealized monolayer and bilayer graphene. We stress that purely repulsive fermion systems are mainly the subject of unconventional low-temperature su…
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…
Room temperature superconductivity has been achieved under high pressure in an organically derived carbonaceous sulfur hydride with a critical superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of 288 kelvin. This development is part of a new class of dense, hydrogen rich materials with remarkably high critical temperatures. Metal superhydrides are a subclass of these materials that provide a different and potentially more promising route to very high Tc superconductivity. The most promising binary metal superhydrides contain alkaline or rare earth elements, and recent experimental observations of La…
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…
Hydrogen-rich superhydrides are promising high-Tc superconductors, with superconductivity experimentally observed near room temperature, as shown in recently discovered lanthanide superhydrides at very high pressures, e.g. LaH10 at 170 GPa and CeH9 at 150 GPa. Superconductivity is believed to be closely related with the high vibrational modes of the bound hydrogen ions. Here we study the limit of extreme pressures (above 200 GPa) where lanthanide hydrides with large hydrogen content have been reported. We focus on LaH16 and CeH16, two prototype candidates for achieving a large electronic contr…
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…
Utilizing the high stability of calcium and rare earth hydrides, CaFeAsF1-xHx (x = 0.0-1.0) and SmFeAsO1-xHx (x = 0.0-0.47) have been first synthesized using high pressure to form hydrogen-substituted 1111 type iron-arsenide superconductors. Neutron diffraction and density functional calculations have demonstrated that the hydrogens are incorporated as H- ions occupying F- sites in the blocking layer of CaFeAsF. The resulting CaFeAsF1-xHx is non-superconducting, whereas SmFeAsO1-xHx is a superconductor, with an optimal Tc = 55 K at x 0.2. It was found that up to 40% of the O2- ions can be repl…
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…
