Predicted High-Pressure Hot Superconductivity in Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ Phases that Resemble the Type-II Clathrate Structure

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Redington, Morgan, Zurek, Eva
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Redington, Morgan
Zurek, Eva
author_facet Redington, Morgan
Zurek, Eva
contents High-temperature high-pressure superconducting hydrides are typically characterized by cage-like hydrogenic lattices filled with electropositive metal atoms. Here, density functional theory based evolutionary crystal structure searches find two phases that possess these geometric features and are related to the Type-II clathrate structure. In these $Fd\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and $R\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ phases the calcium atom occupies the larger cage and the lithium atom the smaller one. The highest superconducting critical temperatures predicted within the isotropic Eliashberg formalism, 330~K at 350~GPa for $Fd\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and 370~K at 300~GPa for $R\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$, suggest these structures fall in the class of high-energy-density quantum materials known as hot superconductors. As pressure is lowered the cage-like lattices distort with the emergence of quasimolecular hydrogenic motifs; nonetheless Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ is predicted to be superconducting down to 160~GPa at 205~K.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_18544
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Predicted High-Pressure Hot Superconductivity in Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ Phases that Resemble the Type-II Clathrate Structure
Redington, Morgan
Zurek, Eva
Superconductivity
Chemical Physics
High-temperature high-pressure superconducting hydrides are typically characterized by cage-like hydrogenic lattices filled with electropositive metal atoms. Here, density functional theory based evolutionary crystal structure searches find two phases that possess these geometric features and are related to the Type-II clathrate structure. In these $Fd\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and $R\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ phases the calcium atom occupies the larger cage and the lithium atom the smaller one. The highest superconducting critical temperatures predicted within the isotropic Eliashberg formalism, 330~K at 350~GPa for $Fd\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and 370~K at 300~GPa for $R\overline{3}m$ Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$, suggest these structures fall in the class of high-energy-density quantum materials known as hot superconductors. As pressure is lowered the cage-like lattices distort with the emergence of quasimolecular hydrogenic motifs; nonetheless Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ is predicted to be superconducting down to 160~GPa at 205~K.
title Predicted High-Pressure Hot Superconductivity in Li$_2$CaH$_{16}$ and Li$_2$CaH$_{17}$ Phases that Resemble the Type-II Clathrate Structure
topic Superconductivity
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.18544