Irrelevance of 1H composition to the superconductivity in the infinite-layer nickelates: judging from the MeV energy scale

TL;DR

This study shows that the amount of 1H hydrogen in infinite-layer nickelates does not significantly affect their superconductivity, using advanced nuclear analysis techniques to quantify hydrogen and compare superconducting properties.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates that 1H composition is irrelevant to superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates, challenging previous assumptions and employing nuclear reaction analysis for precise quantification.

Findings

1H composition varies widely without affecting Tc.

Superconductivity achieved without hydrogen incorporation.

Hydrogen remains stable in air despite volatility.

Abstract

The discovery of the superconductivity in the infinite-layer nickelates, as topotactically reduced from their respective perovskite percussors via co-annealing with CaH2, extends the understanding in superconductivity. Nevertheless, whether the incorporated 1H composition is critical to the infinite-layer superconductivity recently arouses considerable debates, while the central challenge lies in the quantification of 1H that is easily interfered by the conventional electron or orbital associated processes. Herein, we demonstrate the irrelevance between the superconductivity in the infinite-layer nickelates and their incorporated 1H composition, assisted by nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and heavy ion energy recoil detection analysis (HIERDA) based on the nuclear interactions at MeV energy scale. These approaches completely overwhelm the conventional interferes, such as ionization, activation and chemical bonds, and achieves the 1H quantification within superconducting La0.8Sr0.2NiO2 (or Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2). A large diversity of 1H composition far beyond the previously expected critical dome was observed, while their TC were not changed significantly. Furthermore, the superconductivity was demonstrated to be achievable for La0.8Sr0.2NiO2 reduced by Al without any hydrogen associated process, while the superconducting properties for the CaH2 reduced La0.8Sr0.2NiO2 is rather stable after long term exposure in air, despite the high volatility of 1H within oxides. All these results indicate that the 1H incorporation composition is not critical to the superconductivity of the infinite-layer nickelates.