Hole-doped room-temperature superconductivity in H3S1-xZx (Z=C, Si)

• Published in: Materials today physics 2020-12, Vol.15, Article 100330
• Main Authors: Ge, Yanfeng, Zhang, Fan, Dias, Ranga P., Hemley, Russell J., Yao, Yugui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2542-5293; 2542-5293
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mtphys.2020.100330

We examine the effects of the low-level substitution of S atoms by C and Si atoms on the superconductivity of H3S with the Im3¯m structure at megabar pressures. The hole doping can fine-tune the Fermi energy to reach the electronic density-of-states peak maximizing the electron-phonon coupling. This can boost the critical temperature from the original 203 K to 289 K and 283 K, respectively, for H3S0.962C0.038 at 260 GPa and H3S0.960Si0.040 at 230 GPa. The former may provide an explanation for the recent experimental observation of room-temperature superconductivity in a highly compressed C–S–H system [Nature 586, 373–377 (2020)]. Our work opens a new avenue for substantially raising the critical temperatures of hydrogen-rich materials. [Display omitted] •Predicting room-temperature superconductivity in hole-doped H3S system.•Providing an explanation for the experimentally observed room-temperature superconductivity in a C–S–H system.•Opening a new avenue for substantially raising the superconducting critical temperatures of hydrogen-rich materials.