Physical origin of color changes in lutetium hydride under pressure

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to understand the pressure-induced color changes in lutetium hydride compounds, linking optical properties to structural and compositional variations.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical explanation for the color evolution in Lu-H-N compounds under pressure, clarifying experimental observations and exploring effects of nitrogen doping.

Findings

LuH₂ shows a blue reflectivity peak up to 10 GPa

Color shifts to red with increasing pressure due to band gap changes

N-doping at tetrahedral sites influences color change behavior

Abstract

Recently, near-ambient superconductivity was claimed in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride (LuH$_{3-\delta}$N$_{\epsilon}$) . Unfortunately, all follow-up research still cannot find superconductivity signs in successfully synthesized lutetium dihydride (LuH$_2$) and N-doped LuH$_{2\pm x}$N$_y$. However, a similar intriguing observation was the pressure-induced color changes (from blue to pink and subsequent red). The physical understanding of its origin and the correlation between the color, crystal structure, and chemical composition of Lu-H-N is still lacking. In this work, we theoretically study the optical properties of LuH$_2$, LuH$_3$, and some potential N-doped compounds using the first-principles calculations by considering both interband and intraband contributions. Our results show that LuH$_2$ has an optical reflectivity peak around blue light up to 10 GPa. Under higher pressure, the reflectivity of red light gradually becomes dominant. This evolution is driven by changes in the direct band gap and the Fermi velocity of free electrons under pressure. In contrast, LuH$_3$ exhibits gray and no color change up to 50 GPa. Furthermore, we considered different types of N-doped LuH$_2$ and LuH$_3$. We find that N-doped LuH$_2$ with the substitution of a hydrogen atom at the tetrahedral position maintains the color change when the N-doping concentration is low. As the doping level increases, this trend becomes less obvious. While other N-doped structures do not show significant color change. Our results can clarify the origin of the experimental observed blue-to-red color change in lutetium hydride and also provide a further understanding of the potential N-doped lutetium dihydride.