High-temperature superconductivity on the verge of a structural instability in lanthanum superhydride

The experimental studies to understand the superconductivity of superhydrides remain scarce. Here, the authors report pressure and magnetic field dependence of superconductivity in LaH10, and indicate lattice vibrations strongly affect superconducting coupling. The possibility of high, room-temperature superconductivity was predicted for metallic hydrogen in the 1960s. However, metallization and superconductivity of hydrogen are yet to be unambiguously demonstrated and may require pressures as high as 5 million atmospheres. Rare earth based superhydrides, such as LaH10, can be considered as a close approximation of metallic hydrogen even though they form at moderately lower pressures. In superhydrides the predominance of H-H metallic bonds and high superconducting transition temperatures bear the hallmarks of metallic hydrogen. Still, experimental studies revealing the key factors controlling their superconductivity are scarce. Here, we report the pressure and magnetic field dependence of the superconducting order observed in LaH10. We determine that the high-symmetry high-temperature superconducting Fm-3m phase of LaH10 can be stabilized at substantially lower pressures than previously thought. We find a remarkable correlation between superconductivity and a structural instability indicating that lattice vibrations, responsible for the monoclinic structural distortions in LaH10, strongly affect the superconducting coupling.

Automated summary

The superconductivity of LaH10 is found to be influenced by pressure and magnetic field, with lattice vibrations strongly affecting the superconducting coupling. This has important implications for understanding the superconductivity of metallic hydrogen.