Direct Meissner Effect Observation of Superconductivity in Compressed H2S

TL;DR

This study provides direct evidence of the Meissner effect in superconducting compressed H2S, confirming high-temperature superconductivity around 183 K at high pressures, and supports the potential for room-temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-rich materials.

Contribution

First direct measurement of the Meissner effect in compressed H2S, validating superconductivity and its pressure-dependent behavior, supporting theoretical predictions.

Findings

Superconductivity appears at 117 GPa.

Tc reaches 183 K at 149 GPa.

Superconductivity decreases with increasing pressure.

Abstract

Recently, an extremely high superconducting temperature (Tc) of ~200 K has been reported in the sulfur hydride system above 100 GPa. This result is supported by theoretical predictions and verified experimentally. The crystal structure of the superconducting phase was also identified experimentally, confirming the theoretically predicted structure as well as a decomposition mechanism from H2S to H3S+S. Even though nuclear resonant scattering has been successfully used to provide magnetic evidence for a superconducting state, a direct measurement of the important Meissner effect is still lacking. Here we report in situ alternating-current magnetic susceptibility measurements on compressed H2S under high pressures. It is shown that superconductivity suddenly appears at 117 GPa and that Tc reaches 183 K at 149 GPa before decreasing monotonically with a further increase in pressure. This evolution agrees with both theoretical calculations and earlier experimental measurements. The idea of conventional high temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-dominant compounds has thus been realized in the sulfur hydride system under hydrostatic pressure, opening further exciting perspectives for possibly realizing room temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-based compounds.