Superconducting ternary hydrides under high pressure

Abstract

Achieving room-temperature superconductivity is an important goal in chemistry and physics. Excitingly, pressure-induced superconducting hydrides, a typical representative of LaH₁₀ with a critical temperature (T_c) of 250–260 K around 180–200 GPa, bring this goal within reach, igniting an irresistible wave of discovering new H-containing superconductors. Moreover, this breakthrough finding was achieved under the guidance of theoretical prediction. Thus far, the superconductivity of binary hydrides has been extensively explored. However, the high-temperature superconductor, facilitating practical application, is still rare. Ternary hydrides can provide more abundant structures resulting from diverse chemical compositions and synergistic charge transfer, combine the merits of different elements, and induce strong electron–phonon coupling, which make them an appealing contender for superconductors. Recently, much research progress has been made in pressure-induced superconducting ternary hydrides. In this regard, we summarize the recent development of superconducting ternary hydrides, highlighting the chemical composition, structure, pressure, and T_c value as well as the study of doping/substitution on the known superconducting binary hydrides. The recent state-of-the-art of theoretical approaches for predicting superconductors and fundamental characters of ternary hydrides with high T_c are outlined. On the other hand, the problems, challenges, and opportunities are presented, providing an outlook for future research.

This article is categorized under: