Computational Screening and Stabilization of Boron-Substituted Type-I and Type-II Carbon Clathrates.

Boron substitution represents a promising approach to stabilize carbon clathrate structures, but no thermodynamically stable substitution schemes have been identified for frameworks other than the type-VII (sodalite) structure type. To investigate the possibility for additional tetrahedral carbon-based clathrate networks, more than 5000 unique boron decoration schemes were investigated computationally for type-I and type-II carbon clathrates with a range of guest elements including Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba. Density functional theory calculations were performed at 10 and 50 GPa, and the stability and impact of boron substitution were evaluated. The results indicate that the boron-substituted carbon clathrates are stabilized under high-pressure conditions. Full cage occupancies of intermediate-sized guest atoms (e.g., Na, Ca, and Sr) are the most favorable energetically. Clathrate stability is maximized when the boron atoms are substituted within the hexagonal rings of the large [51262]/[51264] cages. Several structures with favorable formation enthalpies <-200 meV/atom were predicted, and type-I Ca8B16C30 is on the convex hull at 50 GPa. This structure represents the first thermodynamically stable type-I clathrate identified and suggests that boron-substituted carbon clathrates may represent a large family of diamond-like framework materials with a range of structure types and guest/framework substitutions.

The 2021 room-temperature superconductivity roadmap.

Designing materials with advanced functionalities is the main focus of contemporary solid-state physics and chemistry. Research efforts worldwide are funneled into a few high-end goals, one of the oldest, and most fascinating of which is the search for an ambient temperature superconductor (A-SC). The reason is clear: superconductivity at ambient conditions implies being able to handle, measure and access a single, coherent, macroscopic quantum mechanical state without the limitations associated with cryogenics and pressurization. This would not only open exciting avenues for fundamental research, but also pave the road for a wide range of technological applications, affecting strategic areas such as energy conservation and climate change. In this roadmap we have collected contributions from many of the main actors working on superconductivity, and asked them to share their personal viewpoint on the field. The hope is that this article will serve not only as an instantaneous picture of the status of research, but also as a true roadmap defining the main long-term theoretical and experimental challenges that lie ahead. Interestingly, although the current research in superconductor design is dominated by conventional (phonon-mediated) superconductors, there seems to be a widespread consensus that achieving A-SC may require different pairing mechanisms.In memoriam, to Neil Ashcroft, who inspired us all.

Electronic Structure and Superconductivity of Compressed Metal Tetrahydrides.

Tetrahydrides crystallizing in the ThCr2 Si2 structure type have been predicted to become stable for a plethora of metals under pressure, and some have recently been synthesized. Through detailed first-principles investigations we show that the metal atoms within these I 4 / m m m symmetry MH4 compounds may be divalent, trivalent or tetravalent. The valence of the metal atom and its radius govern the bonding and electronic structure of these phases, and their evolution under pressure. The factors important for enhancing superconductivity include a large number of hydrogenic states at the Fermi level, and the presence of quasi-molecular H 2 δ - units whose bonds have been stretched and weakened (but not broken) via electron transfer from the electropositive metal, and via a Kubas-like interaction with the metal. Analysis of the microscopic mechanism of superconductivity in MgH4 , ScH4 and ZrH4 reveals that phonon modes involving a coupled libration and stretch of the H 2 δ - units leading to the formation of more complex hydrogenic motifs are important contributors towards the electron phonon coupling mechanism. In the divalent hydride MgH4 , modes associated with motions of the hydridic hydrogen atoms are also key contributors, and soften substantially at lower pressures.

The Li-F-H ternary system at high pressures.

Evolutionary crystal structure prediction searches have been employed to explore the ternary Li-F-H system at 300 GPa. Metastable phases were uncovered within the static lattice approximation, with LiF3H2, LiF2H, Li3F4H, LiF4H4, Li2F3H, and LiF3H lying within 50 meV/atom of the 0 K convex hull. All of these phases contain HnFn+1 - (n = 1, 2) anions and Li+ cations. Other structural motifs such as LiF slabs, H3 + molecules, and Fδ- ions are present in some of the low enthalpy Li-F-H structures. The bonding within the HnFn+1 - molecules, which may be bent or linear, symmetric or asymmetric, is analyzed. The five phases closest to the hull are insulators, while LiF3H is metallic and predicted to have a vanishingly small superconducting critical temperature. Li3F4H is predicted to be stable at zero pressure. This study lays the foundation for future investigations of the role of temperature and anharmonicity on the stability and properties of compounds and alloys in the Li-F-H ternary system.

A Metastable CaSH3 Phase Composed of HS Honeycomb Sheets that is Superconducting Under Pressure.

Evolutionary searches have predicted a number of ternary Ca-S-H phases that could be synthesized at pressures of 100-300 GPa. P63/mmc CaSH2, Pnma CaSH2, Cmc21 CaSH6, and I4̅ CaSH20 were composed of a Ca-S lattice along with H2 molecules coordinated in a "side-on" fashion to Ca. The H-H bond lengths in these semiconducting phases were elongated because of H2 σ → Ca d donation, and Ca d → H2 σ* back-donation, via a Kubas-like mechanism. P6̅m2 CaSH3, consisting of two-dimensional HS and CaH2 sheets, was metastable and metallic above 128 GPa. The presence of van Hove singularities increased its density of states at the Fermi level and concomitantly the superconducting critical temperature, which was estimated to be as high as ∼100 K at 128 GPa. This work will inspire the search for superconductivity in materials based upon honeycomb HX (X = S, Se, Te) and MH2 (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) layers under pressure.

High-temperature superconductivity in alkaline and rare earth polyhydrides at high pressure: A theoretical perspective.

The theoretical exploration of the phase diagrams of binary hydrides under pressure using ab initio crystal structure prediction techniques coupled with first principles calculations has led to the in silico discovery of numerous novel superconducting materials. This Perspective focuses on the alkaline earth and rare earth polyhydrides whose superconducting critical temperature, Tc, was predicted to be above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. After providing a brief overview of the computational protocol used to predict the structures of stable and metastable hydrides under pressure, we outline the equations that can be employed to estimate Tc. The systems with a high Tc can be classified according to the motifs found in their hydrogenic lattices. The highest Tcs are found for cages that are reminiscent of clathrates and the lowest for systems that contain atomic and molecular hydrogen. A wide variety of hydrogenic motifs including 1- and 2-dimensional lattices, as well as H10 δ- molecular units comprising fused H5 δ- pentagons, are present in phases with intermediate Tcs. Some of these phases are predicted to be superconducting at room temperature. Some may have recently been synthesized in diamond anvil cells.

Effects of Nonhydrostatic Stress on Structural and Optoelectronic Properties of Methylammonium Lead Bromide Perovskite.

We report synchrotron X-ray diffraction, photoconductivity, and photoluminescence investigations of methylammonium-lead-bromide (MAPbBr3) under various stress conditions, supported by density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations. The properties of MAPbBr3 show substantial dependence on the hydrostatic conditions. While nonhydrostatic compression of MAPbBr3 leads to amorphization above 2.4 GPa, under quasi-hydrostatic (Ar) and hydrostatic (He) pressure, the sample remains in crystalline phases. A sequence of phase transitions between two cubic phases and orthorhombic Pnma phase is observed when using Ar, or no pressure-transmitting-medium (PTM). In helium-PTM only transitions between the two cubic structures and a new isostructural phase transition with a large volume collapse to a third cubic-phase at 2.7 GPa was observed. The photoluminescence measurements indicate a pressure-induced band gap-narrowing in the cubic phase I, and a blue-shift in the orthorhombic structure. DFT calculations illustrate that the dynamics of the organic molecules and the inorganic lattice, coupled via the N-H···Br hydrogen-bonding interactions, affect the Pb-Br distance and the bandgap evolution under pressure.

Superconducting Phases of Phosphorus Hydride Under Pressure: Stabilization by Mobile Molecular Hydrogen.

At 80 GPa, phases with the PH2 stoichiometry, which are composed of simple cubic like phosphorus layers capped with hydrogen atoms and layers of H2 molecules, are predicted to be important species contributing to the recently observed superconductivity in compressed phosphine. The electron-phonon coupling in these phases results from the motions of the phosphorus atoms and the hydrogen atoms bound to them. The role of the mobile H2 layers is to decrease the Coulomb repulsion between the negatively charged hydrogen atoms capping the phosphorus layers. An insulating PH5 phase, the structure and bonding of which is reminiscent of diborane, is also predicted to be metastable at this pressure.

Decomposition Products of Phosphine Under Pressure: PH2 Stable and Superconducting?

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) coupled with density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been used to predict the most stable hydrides of phosphorus (PHn, n = 1-6) at 100, 150, and 200 GPa. At these pressures phosphine is unstable with respect to decomposition into the elemental phases, as well as PH2 and H2. Three metallic PH2 phases were found to be dynamically stable and superconducting between 100 and 200 GPa. One of these contains five formula units in the primitive cell and has C2/m symmetry (5FU-C2/m). It comprises 1D periodic PH3-PH-PH2-PH-PH3 oligomers. Two structurally related phases consisting of phosphorus atoms that are octahedrally coordinated by four phosphorus atoms in the equatorial positions and two hydrogen atoms in the axial positions (I4/mmm and 2FU-C2/m) were the most stable phases between ∼160-200 GPa. Their superconducting critical temperatures (Tc) were computed as 70 and 76 K, respectively, via the Allen-Dynes modified McMillan formula and using a value of 0.1 for the Coulomb pseudopotential, µ*. Our results suggest that the superconductivity recently observed by Drozdov, Eremets, and Troyan when phosphine was subject to pressures of 207 GPa in a diamond anvil cell may result from these, and other, decomposition products of phosphine.