Room-temperature superconductivity in heavy rare earth metal substituted sodalite-like clathrate hexahydrides under moderate pressure

TL;DR

This paper reports the design of heavy rare earth metal substituted sodalite-like clathrate hexahydrides that exhibit near room-temperature superconductivity at moderate pressures around 120 GPa, advancing the goal of practical superconductors.

Contribution

It introduces a new class of high-temperature superconductors stabilized at moderate pressures by incorporating heavy rare earth elements into hydrides.

Findings

Y3LuH24, YLuH12, and YLu3H24 have critical temperatures near or above room temperature.

These hydrides are stable at about 120 GPa, much lower than previous superconductors.

The work offers a new design strategy for low-pressure high-Tc hydrogen-based superconductors.

Abstract

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 and 288 K, respectively, which are close to or have reached room temperature, and the required pressure for stabilization of these hydrides is about 120 GPa which is significantly lower than that of reported room temperature superconductors. Our work provides an effective method for the rational design of low-pressure stabilized hydrogen-based superconductors with high-Tc and will stimulate further experimental exploration.