
Scientists have synthesized an unusual superconducting barium superhydride
CREDIT: Pavel Odinev / Skoltech
A group of scientists from Russia, China, and the United States predicted and then experimentally obtained barium superhydrides’ new unusual superconductors. The study was published in Nature Communications.
Chemists and physicists have been hunting down room-temperature superconductors since the first half of the 20th century. Initially, high hopes were placed on metallic hydrogen, but solid metallic hydrogen can become superconducting only at extremely high pressures of several million atmospheres, as it later transpired. Chemists then tried adding other elements to hydrogen in the hope of attaining superconductivity by stabilizing the metallic state under less challenging conditions. Scientists, including the research team led by Skoltech Professor Artem R. Oganov, predicted and experimentally obtained a set of compounds with a huge number of hydrogen atoms, such as ThH9 and ThH10 PrH9, NdH7, NdH9, YH6, and so on. Yet, the race for higher hydrogen content in such bizarre hydrides and especially for higher superconducting transition temperature is still on.
In their latest study, scientists from Oganov’s laboratory and their colleagues from China and the United States analyzed all possible barium hydrides using the unique theoretical approaches developed by Oganov and his students and implemented in their USPEX code. Finally, they selected BaH12, a compound with one of the highest hydrogen contents. The researchers obtained the compound experimentally, demonstrated its superconductivity, and studied its crystal structure. BaH12 turned out to be quite a remarkable compound with a structure formed by molecular groups of two and three hydrogen atoms and acting as a molecular superconductor. Thanks to its molecular structure, BaH12 is not a high-temperature superconductor: its critical temperature is -253 degrees Celsius. The study marks significant progress in understanding what structures may someday perform as room-temperature superconductors in real devices.
“On October 14, 2020, American scientists reported the discovery of a room-temperature superconductor, ushering in an era of room superconductivity. The new superconductor composition has not been disclosed, but its room-temperature superconductivity has been convincingly demonstrated. A century-long dream has come true! Recall that superconductivity was first observed in mercury at -269 degrees Celsius over 100 years ago. The new material is unlikely to have immediate practical applications, as it can only be synthesized in microscopic amounts under extremely high pressures of nearly three million atmospheres. We should continue searching for new materials and studying their properties so that we could someday figure out how to achieve room-temperature superconductivity under normal pressure,” Oganov says.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Room-temperature superconductivity
- The Race Toward Room-temperature Superconductors Heats Upon February 25, 2021 at 12:51 pm
This month alone, multiple research institutions have flooded the press with news of a singular goal: to create room-temperature superconductors. Superconducting materials are hailed as the “holy ...
- What Does the World's First Room-Temperature Superconductor Mean for Construction?on February 22, 2021 at 11:43 am
Nearly $5 trillion up for grabs in retrofitting work and a way to reduce emissions created from the current U.S. power grid? It may not be as far-fetched as it sounds.
- Discovering a New Form Of Magnetism in 'Magnetic Graphene'on February 22, 2021 at 2:45 am
Thought Leaders Discovering a New Form Of Magnetism in 'Magnetic Graphene' Download PDF Copy ...
- Twisted trilayer graphene could help make high-temperature superconductorson February 19, 2021 at 1:32 pm
Two’s company, but three’s a crowd – unless you’re trying to make graphene superconduct at higher temperatures. That is the finding of researchers at Harvard University in the US, who discovered that ...
- Trilayer Graphene Could Decode Secrets of High-Temperature Superconductivityon February 5, 2021 at 12:19 pm
maybe even room temperature, superconductor.” The team has now planned to continue to explore the nature of this unique superconductivity in additional research works.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Room-temperature superconductivity
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Superconductor
- Self-consistent solution for the magnetic exchange interaction mediated by a superconductoron March 3, 2021 at 3:17 am
We theoretically determine the magnetic exchange interaction between two ferromagnets coupled by a superconductor using a tight-binding lattice model. The main purpose of this study is to determine ...
- Wind Turbine Control System Market Giants Spending Is Going To Boom | Siemens, ABB, Pepperl+Fuchson March 2, 2021 at 1:32 pm
HTF MI Analyst have added a new research study on Title Global Wind Turbine Control System Market Growth 2021-2026 with detailed information of Product Types [Blade Pitch Control, Generator Torque ...
- State of Wisconsin Investment Board Invests $349,000 in American Superconductor Co. (NASDAQ:AMSC)on March 2, 2021 at 1:30 am
State of Wisconsin Investment Board bought a new position in shares of American Superconductor Co. (NASDAQ:AMSC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC.
- Observation of magnetic adatom-induced Majorana vortex and its hybridization with field-induced Majorana vortex in an iron-based superconductoron March 1, 2021 at 3:26 am
Braiding Majorana modes is essential for topological quantum computing, but it remains difficult to find a suitable platform. Here, the authors report the evidence of hybridization between ...
- Superconductor experts at Fermilab lead efforts to build revolutionary quantum computerson February 26, 2021 at 3:11 pm
By Shivani Majmudar and Grace Rodgers Medill Reports The Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory, just west of Chicago, is leading one of five national centers to advance quantum computing — a move ...