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Chengda Li

Publications and source records attributed to Chengda Li.

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Metal hydrides achieve high-Tc superconductivity at low pressure by mimicking high-pressure H3S chemical bonding

Compressed hydrides are promising candidates for high-temperature superconductivity, yet achieving simultaneous structural stability and high-Tc at low pressures remains challenging. Here, we introduce a new mechanism for accomplishing this goal by mimicking the bonding characteristics of high-pressure H3S within metal hydrides. Using Li3CuH4 as an example, its Cu-H covalent interaction effectively mimics the core function of the S-H bonding in H3S. This interaction not only induces a high hydrogen-derived electronic density of states at the Fermi level, but also softens the hydrogen phonon modes, thereby significantly enhancing the electron-phonon coupling. Furthermore, embedding the strongly ionic Li3H lattice into the covalent Cu-H framework stabilizes the structure at significantly low pressures via a chemical-template effect, while maintaining high-Tc. Li3CuH4 exhibits excellent thermodynamic stability at 20 GPa, with a Tc of 39.25 K at 12 GPa. Further comprehensive high-throughput studies on Li3MH4 (M = transition metal) compounds uncover general principles applicable to a broader range of compounds. This work establishes a new paradigm for the simultaneous optimization of the stability and high-temperature superconductivity of metal hydrides through complementary sublattice interactions, thus advancing the search for practical and viable superconducting materials.

cond-mat.supr-con

Mechanisms driving robust high-temperature superconductivity in complex metal hydrides under moderate pressure

The discovery of near-room-temperature superconductivity in compressed hydrides has sparked intensive research efforts to identify superconducting hydrides stable at low or even ambient pressures. Herein, we demonstrate a new mechanism for achieving robust superconductivity in complex metal hydrides under moderate pressure, using Li3IrH9 as a paradigmatic example. This compound displays unique electronic structural characteristics where the broadening and overlap between antibonding electronic bands of [IrH8]2- and adjacent H- orbitals not only drive the intrinsic metallicity of the hydrogen sublattice, generating hydrogen-dominated electronic states at the Fermi level, but also soften hydrogen-related optical phonon modes, inducing strong electron-phonon coupling that remains robust even under high-pressures. First-principles calculations predict that Li3IrH9 maintains thermodynamic stability at 100 GPa while exhibiting a consistently high Tc exceeding 100 K across a broad pressure range (8-150 GPa). Through high-throughput computational screening, we have identified a new superconducting family based on this structural prototype, including Li3RhH9 (Tc = 124 K at 20 GPa) and Li3CoH9 (Tc = 80 K at 10 GPa). This work provides a new platform and original theoretical insights for the development of complex metal hydride superconductors that exhibit robust high-temperature superconductivity and promising practical applications.

cond-mat.supr-con