Emerging superconductivity rules in rare-earth and alkaline-earth metal hydrides

Autor: Ya-Le Tao, Qi-Jun Liu, Dai-He Fan, Fu-Sheng Liu, Zheng-Tang Liu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: iScience, Vol 27, Iss 8, Pp 110542- (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2589-0042
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110542
Popis: Summary: Hydrides of alkaline-earth and rare-earth metals have garnered significant interest in high-temperature superconductor research due to their excellent electron-phonon coupling and high Tc upon pressurization. This study explores the electronic structures and electron-phonon coupling of metal hydrides XHn (n = 4,6), where X includes Ca, Mg, Sc, and Y. The involvement of d-orbital electrons alters the Fermi surface, leading to saddle-point nesting and a charge density wave (CDW) phase transition, which opens the superconducting gap. For instance, in YH6, the exchange coupling between Y-4d and H-1s holes in the phonon softening region results in Tc values up to 230 K. The study suggests that factors, such as the origin of the CDW order, hydrogen concentration, and d-orbital contributions are crucial to superconductivity. This work proposes a new rule for high Tc superconductors, emphasizing the importance of double gaps and electron-phonon interactions at exchange coupling sites, and predicts potential high-quality superconductors among rare-earth hydrides.
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