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

Abstract

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.