Superconductivity in Dilute Hydrides of Ammonia under Pressure

TL;DR

This paper predicts high-pressure superconducting phases in ammonia-hydrogen compounds with complex structures, achieving critical temperatures up to 179 K, based on extensive theoretical calculations.

Contribution

It introduces novel ammonia-hydrogen compounds with superconductivity at high pressures, expanding the understanding of molecular cation-based superconductors.

Findings

Predicted metastable NH$_n$ structures with high $T_c$.

Superconductivity driven by hydrogen atoms in molecular cations.

Maximum $T_c$ of 179 K at 300 GPa for NH$_{10}$.

Abstract

In the last decade, there has been great progress in predicting and synthesizing polyhydrides that exhibit superconductivity when squeezed. Dopants allow these compounds to become metals at pressures lower than those required to metallize elemental hydrogen. Here, we show that by combining the fundamental planetary building blocks of molecular hydrogen and ammonia, conventional superconducting compounds can be formed at high pressure. Through extensive theoretical calculations we predict metallic metastable structures with NH$_n$ ($n=10,11,24$) stoichiometries that are based on NH$_4^+$ superalkali cations and complex hydrogenic lattices. The hydrogen atoms in the molecular cation contribute to the superconducting mechanism, and the estimated superconducting critical temperatures, $T_\text{c}$s, are comparable to the highest values computed for the alkali metal polyhydrides. The largest calculated (isotropic Eliashberg) $T_\text{c}$ is 179~K for $Pnma$-NH$_{10}$ at 300~GPa. Our results suggest that other molecular cations can be mixed with hydrogen under pressure yielding superconducting compounds.