Superior Superconducting Properties Realized in Quaternary La-Y-Ce Hydrides at Moderate Pressures

Su Chen; Yulong Wang; Fuquan Bai; Xinzhao Wu; Xinyue Wu; Anna Pakhomova; Jianning Guo; Xiaoli Huang; Tian Cui

doi:10.1021/jacs.4c02586

Superior Superconducting Properties Realized in Quaternary La-Y-Ce Hydrides at Moderate Pressures

J Am Chem Soc. 2024 May 22;146(20):14105-14113. doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c02586. Epub 2024 May 8.

Authors

Su Chen¹, Yulong Wang¹, Fuquan Bai², Xinzhao Wu², Xinyue Wu¹, Anna Pakhomova³, Jianning Guo¹, Xiaoli Huang¹, Tian Cui^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
² Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, P. R. China.
³ European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, ESRF, Grenoble 38043, Cedex 9, France.
⁴ School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.

PMID: 38717019
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c02586

Abstract

The recent revolution in the superconductivity field stems from hydride superconductors. Multicomponent hydrides provide a crucial platform for tracking high-temperature superconductors. Besides high superconducting transition temperature (T_c), achieving both giant upper critical magnetic field [μ₀H_c2(0)] and high critical current density [J_c(0)] is also key to the latent potential of the application for hydride superconductors. In this work, we have successfully synthesized quaternary La-Y-Ce hydrides with excellent properties under moderate pressure by using the concept of "entropy engineering." The obtained temperature dependence of the resistance provides evidence for the superconductivity of Fm3m-(La,Y,Ce)H₁₀, with the maximum T_c ∼ 190 K (at 112 GPa). Notably, Fm3m-(La,Y,Ce)H₁₀ boasts exceptional properties: μ₀H_c2(0) reaching 292 T and J_c(0) surpassing 4.61 × 10⁷ A/cm². Compared with the binary LaH₁₀/YH₁₀, we find that the Fm3m structure in (La,Y,Ce)H₁₀ can be stable at relatively low pressures (112 GPa). These results indicate that multicomponent hydrides can significantly enhance the superconducting properties and regulate stabilizing pressure through the application of "entropy engineering." This work stimulates the experimental exploration of multihydride superconductors and also provides a reference for the search of room-temperature superconductors in more diversified hydride materials in the future.