Speaker
Description
The search for room temperature superconductivity has accelerated dramatically in the last few years, driven largely by theoretical predictions that first indicated alloying dense hydrogen with other elements could produce conventional phonon-mediated superconductivity at very high temperatures and at accessible pressures. More recently, the success of structure search methods have identified specific candidates and pressure-temperature ($P-T$) conditions for synthesis. These theoretical advances have prompted in turn improvements in experimental techniques to test these predictions. As a result, experimental studies of simple binary hydrides under pressure have yielded high critical superconducting transition temperatures ($T_c$), of $260$ K in LaH$_{10}$, close to the commonly accepted threshold for room temperature, $293$ K, at pressures near $180$ GPa.
In this talk, I will discuss our recent efforts on the synthesis and characterization of a Lanthanum-based, higher order superhydride [1]. I will emphasize in particular the experimental methods developed to reach the most extreme conditions required to achieve the synthesis of this new family of superconductors.
Acknowledgements
This work is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through the grant GBMF ID #10731.02
References
[1] A. D. Grockowiak et al., “Hot Hydride Superconductivity Above 550 K,” Frontiers in Electronic Materials, vol. 2. Frontiers Media SA, Mar. 04, 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/femat.2022.837651
