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Christoph Heil

Publications and source records attributed to Christoph Heil.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Machine learning assisted prediction of organic salt structure properties

We demonstrate a machine learning-based approach which predicts the properties of crystal structures following relaxation based on the unrelaxed structure. Use of crystal graph singular values reduces the number of features required to describe a crystal by more than an order of magnitude compared to the full crystal graph representation. We construct machine learning models using the crystal graph singular value representations in order to predict the volume, enthalpy per atom, and metal versus semiconducting phase of DFT-relaxed organic salt crystals based on randomly generated unrelaxed crystal structures. Initial base models are trained to relate 89,949 randomly generated structures of salts formed by varying ratios of 1,3,5-triazine and HCl with the corresponding volumes, enthalpies per atom, and phase of the DFT-relaxed structures. We further demonstrate that the base model is able to extrapolate to new chemical systems with the inclusion of 2,000 to 10,000 crystal structures from the new system. After training a single model with a large number of data points, extension can be done at significantly lower cost. The constructed machine learning models can be used to rapidly screen large sets of randomly generated organic salt crystal structures and efficiently downselect the structures most likely to be experimentally realizable. The models can be used either as a stand-alone crystal structure predictor or incorporated into more sophisticated workflows as a filtering step.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Full-bandwidth anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory and its application to superhydrides

Migdal-Eliashberg theory is one of the state-of-the-art methods for describing conventional superconductors from first principles. However, widely used implementations assume a constant density of states around the Fermi level, which hinders a proper description of materials with distinct features in its vicinity. Here, we present an implementation of the Migdal-Eliashberg theory within the EPW code that considers the full electronic structure and accommodates scattering processes beyond the Fermi surface. To significantly reduce computational costs, we introduce a non-uniform sampling scheme along the imaginary axis. We demonstrate the power of our implementation by applying it to the sodalite-like clathrates YH$_6$ and CaH$_6$, and to the covalently-bonded H$_3$S and D$_3$S. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of maximizing the density of states at the Fermi level in doped H$_3$S and BaSiH$_8$ within the full-bandwidth treatment compared to the constant-density-of-states approximation. Our findings highlight the importance of this advanced treatment in such complex materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Temperature and quantum anharmonic lattice effects on stability and superconductivity in lutetium trihydride

In this work, we resolve conflicting experimental and theoretical findings related to the dynamical stability and superconducting properties of $Fm\overline{3}m$-LuH$_3$, which was recently suggested as the parent phase harboring room-temperature superconductivity at near-ambient pressures. Including temperature and quantum anharmonic lattice effects in our calculations, we demonstrate that the theoretically predicted structural instability of the $Fm\overline{3}m$ phase near ambient pressures is suppressed for temperatures above $200\,\text{K}$. We provide a $p\,\unicode{x2013}\,T$ phase diagram for stability up to pressures of $6\,\text{GPa}$, where the required temperature for stability is reduced to $T>80\,\text{K}$. We also determine the superconducting critical temperature $T_\text{c}$ of $Fm\overline{3}m$-LuH$_3$ within the Migdal-Eliashberg formalism, using temperature- and quantum-anharmonically-corrected phonon dispersions, finding that the expected $T_\text{c}$ for electron-phonon mediated superconductivity is in the range of $50$ $\unicode{x2013}$ $60\,\text{K}$, i.e., well below the temperatures required to stabilize the lattice. When considering moderate doping based on rigidly shifting the Fermi level, $T_\text{c}$ decreases for both hole and electron doping. Our results thus provide evidence that any observed room-temperature superconductivity in pure or doped $Fm\overline{3}m$-LuH$_3$, if confirmed, cannot be explained by a conventional electron-phonon mediated pairing mechanism.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Quantum lattice dynamics and their importance in ternary superhydride clathrates

The quantum nature of the hydrogen lattice in superconducting hydrides can have crucial effects on the material's properties. Taking a detailed look at the dynamic stability of the recently predicted BaSiH$_8$ phase, we find that the inclusion of anharmonic quantum ionic effects leads to an increase in the critical dynamical pressure to $20\,\text{GPa}$ as compared to $5\,\text{GPa}$ within the harmonic approximation. We identify the change in the crystal structure due to quantum ionic effects to be the main driving force for this increase and demonstrate that this can already be understood at the harmonic level by considering zero-point energy corrections to the total electronic energy. In fact, the previously determined critical pressure of kinetic stability $p_\text{kin} = 30\,\text{GPa}$ still poses a stricter bound for the synthesizability of BaSiH$_8$ and similar hydride materials than the dynamical stability and therefore constitutes a more rigorous and accurate estimate for the experimental realizability of these structures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Search for ambient superconductivity in the Lu-N-H system

Motivated by the recent report of room-temperature superconductivity at near-ambient pressure in N-doped lutetium hydride by Dasenbrock et al. [Nature 615, 244 (2023)], we performed a comprehensive, detailed study of the phase diagram of the Lu-N-H system, looking for superconducting phases. We combined ab initio crystal structure prediction with ephemeral data-derived interatomic potentials to sample over 200,000 different structures. Out of the more than 150 structures predicted to be metastable within $\sim$ 50 meV from the convex hull we identify 52 viable candidates for conventional superconductivity, for which we computed their superconducting properties from Density Functional Perturbation Theory. Although for some of these structures we do predict a finite superconducting $T_{\text{c}}$, none is even remotely compatible with room-temperature superconductivity as reported by Dasenbrock et al. Our work joins the broader community effort that has followed the report of near-ambient superconductivity, confirming beyond reasonable doubt that no conventional mechanism can explain the reported $T_{\text{c}}$ in Lu-N-H.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

In-silico synthesis of lowest-pressure high-$T_\text{c}$ ternary superhydrides

We report the theoretical prediction of two high-performing hydride superconductors BaSiH$_8$ and SrSiH$_8$. They are thermodynamically stable above pressures of $130$ and $174\,\text{GPa}$, respectively, and metastable below that. Employing anharmonic phonon calculations, we determine the minimum pressures of dynamical stability to be around $3\,\text{GPa}$ for BaSiH$_8$ and $27\,\text{GPa}$ for SrSiH$_8$, and using the fully anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory, we predict $T_\text{c}$'s around $71$ and $126\,\text{K}$, respectively. We also introduce a method to estimate the lowest pressure of synthesis, based on the calculation of the enthalpy barriers protecting the BaSiH$_8$ $Fm\bar{3}m$ structure from decomposition at various pressures. This $kinetic$ pressure threshold is sensibly higher than the one based on $dynamic$ stability, but gives a much more rigorous limit for synthesizability.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

LaBH$_{8}$: the first high-T$_{c}$ low-pressure superhydride

In the last five years a large number of new high-temperature superconductors have been predicted and experimentally discovered among hydrogen-rich crystals, at pressures which are way too high to meet any practical application. In this work, we report the computational prediction of a hydride superconductor, LaBH$_{8}$, with a T$_{c}$ of 126 K at a pressure of 50 GPa, thermodynamically stable above 100 GPa, and dynamically stable down to 40 GPa, an unprecedentedly low pressure for high-T$_{c}$ hydrides. LaBH$_{8}$ can be seen as a ternary sodalite-like hydride, in which a metallic hydrogen sublattice is stabilized by the chemical pressure exerted by the guest elements. The combination of two elements with different atomic sizes in LaBH$_{8}$ realizes a more efficient packing of atoms than in binary sodalite hydrides. A suitable choice of elements may be exploited to further reduce the stabilization pressure to ambient conditions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

The 2021 Quantum Materials Roadmap

In recent years, the notion of Quantum Materials has emerged as a powerful unifying concept across diverse fields of science and engineering, from condensed-matter and cold atom physics to materials science and quantum computing. Beyond traditional quantum materials such as unconventional superconductors, heavy fermions, and multiferroics, the field has significantly expanded to encompass topological quantum matter, two-dimensional materials and their van der Waals heterostructures, Moire materials, Floquet time crystals, as well as materials and devices for quantum computation with Majorana fermions. In this Roadmap collection we aim to capture a snapshot of the most recent developments in the field, and to identify outstanding challenges and emerging opportunities. The format of the Roadmap, whereby experts in each discipline share their viewpoint and articulate their vision for quantum materials, reflects the dynamic and multifaceted nature of this research area, and is meant to encourage exchanges and discussions across traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is our hope that this collective vision will contribute to sparking new fascinating questions and activities at the intersection of materials science, condensed matter physics, device engineering, and quantum information, and to shaping a clearer landscape of quantum materials science as a new frontier of interdisciplinary scientific inquiry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Superconductivity and strong anharmonicity in novel Nb-S phases

In this work we explore the phase diagram of the binary Nb-S system from ambient pressures up to 250 GPa using $ab$ $initio$ evolutionary crystal structure prediction. We find several new stable compositions and phases, especially in the high-pressure regime, and investigate their electronic, vibrational, and superconducting properties. Our calculations show that all materials, besides the low-pressure phases of pure sulfur, are metals with low electron-phonon coupling strengths and critical superconducting temperatures below 15 K. Furthermore, we investigate the effects of phonon anharmonicity on lattice dynamics, electron-phonon interactions, and superconductivity for the novel high-pressure phase of $\mathrm{Nb}_2\mathrm{S}$, demonstrating that the inclusion of anharmonicity stabilizes the lattice and enhances the electron-phonon interaction.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Electronic, vibrational, and electron-phonon coupling properties in SnSe$_2$ and SnS$_2$ under pressure

The tin-selenide and tin-sulfide classes of materials undergo multiple structural transitions under high pressure leading to periodic lattice distortions, superconductivity, and topologically non-trivial phases, yet a number of controversies exist regarding the structural transformations in these systems. We perform first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory and a careful comparison of our results with available experiments on SnSe$_2$ reveals that the apparent contradictions among high-pressure results can be attributed to differences in experimental conditions. We further demonstrate that under hydrostatic pressure a $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3} \times 1$ superstructure can be stabilized above 20 GPa in SnS$_2$ via a periodic lattice distortion as found recently in the case of SnSe$_2$, and that this pressure-induced phase transition is due to the combined effect of Fermi surface nesting and electron-phonon coupling at a momentum wave vector $\mathbf{q}$ = $(1/3, 1/3, 0)$. In addition, we investigate the contribution of nonadiabatic corrections on the calculated phonon frequencies, and show that the quantitative agreement between theory and experiment for the high-energy $A_{1g}$ phonon mode is improved when these effects are taken into account. Finally, we examine the nature of the superconducting state recently observed in SnSe$_2$ under nonhydrostatic pressure and predict the emergence of superconductivity with a comparable critical temperature in SnS$_2$ under similar experimental conditions. Interestingly, in the periodic lattice distorted phases, the critical temperature is found to be reduced by an order of magnitude due to the restructuring of the Fermi surface.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Manipulating surface magnetic order in iron telluride

Control of emergent magnetic orders in correlated electron materials promises new opportunities for applications in spintronics. For their technological exploitation, it is important to understand the role of surfaces and interfaces to other materials and their impact on the emergent magnetic orders. Here, we demonstrate for iron telluride, the nonsuperconducting parent compound of the iron chalcogenide superconductors, determination and manipulation of the surface magnetic structure by low-temperature spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy. Iron telluride exhibits a complex structural and magnetic phase diagram as a function of interstitial iron concentration. Several theories have been put forward to explain the different magnetic orders observed in the phase diagram, which ascribe a dominant role either to interactions mediated by itinerant electrons or to local moment interactions. Through the controlled removal of surface excess iron, we can separate the influence of the excess iron from that of the change in the lattice structure.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Superconductivity in sodalite-like yttrium hydride clathrates

We report ab-initio calculations of the superconducting properties of two high-Tc sodalite-like clathrate yttrium hydrides, YH6 and YH10, within the fully anisotropic ME theory, including Coulomb corrections. For both compounds we find almost isotropic superconducting gaps, resulting from a uniform distribution of the electron-phonon coupling over phonon modes and electronic states of mixed Y and H character. The Coulomb screening is rather weak, resulting in a Morel-Anderson pseudopotential mu*= 0:11, at odds with claims of unusually large Tc in lanthanum hydrides. The corresponding critical temperatures at 300 GPa exceed room temperature (Tc = 290 K and 310 K for YH6 and YH10), in agreement with a previous isotropic-gap calculation. The different response of these two compounds to external pressure, along with a comparison to low-Tc superconducting YH3, may inspire strategies to improve the superconducting properties of this class of hydrides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Quasiparticle $GW$ band structures and Fermi surfaces of bulk and monolayer NbS$_2$

In this work we employ the $GW$ approximation in the framework of the SternheimerGW method to investigate the effects of many-body corrections to the band structures and Fermi surfaces of bulk and monolayer NbS$_2$. For the bulk system, we find that the inclusion of these many-body effects leads to important changes in the band structure, especially in the low-energy regime around the Fermi level, and that our calculations are in good agreement with recent ARPES measurements. In the case of a free-standing monolayer NbS$_2$, we observe a strong increase of the screened Coulomb interaction and the quasiparticle corrections as compared to bulk. In this case we also perform calculations to include the effect of screening by a substrate. We report in detail the results of our convergence tests and computational parameters, to serve as a solid basis for future studies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Unusual pressure-induced periodic lattice distortion in SnSe$_2$

We performed high pressure x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, and transport measurements combined with first-principles calculations to investigate the behavior of tin diselenide (SnSe$_2$) under compression. The obtained single-crystal XRD data indicate the formation of a $(1/3,1/3,1)$-type superlattice above 17 GPa. According to our density functional theory results, the pressure-induced transition to the commensurate periodic lattice distortion (PLD) phase is due to the combined effect of strong Fermi surface nesting and electron-phonon coupling at a momentum wave vector $\mathbf{q}=(1/3,1/3,1)$. In contrast, similar PLD transitions associated with charge density wave (CDW) orderings in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) do not involve significant Fermi surface nesting. The discovered pressure-induced PLD is quite remarkable, as pressure usually suppresses CDW phases in related materials. Our findings, therefore, provide new playgrounds to study the intricate mechanisms governing the emergence of PLD in TMD-related materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Absence of superconductivity in iron polyhydrides at high pressures

Recently, C. M. Pépin \textit{et al.} [Science \textbf{357}, 382 (2017)] reported the formation of several new iron polyhydrides FeH$_x$ at pressures in the megabar range, and spotted FeH$_5$, which forms above 130 GPa, as a potential high-\tc \ superconductor, because of an alleged layer of dense metallic hydrogen. Shortly after, two studies by A.~Majumdar \textit{et al.} [Phys. Rev. B \textbf{96}, 201107 (2017)] and A.~G.~Kvashnin \textit{et al.} [J. Phys. Chem. C \textbf{122}, 4731 (2018)] based on {\em ab initio} Migdal-Eliashberg theory seemed to independently confirm such a conjecture. We conversely find, on the same theoretical-numerical basis, that neither FeH$_5$ nor its precursor, FeH$_3$, shows any conventional superconductivity and explain why this is the case. We also show that superconductivity may be attained by transition-metal polyhydrides in the FeH$_3$ structure type by adding more electrons to partially fill one of the Fe--H hybrid bands (as, e.g., in NiH$_3$). Critical temperatures, however, will remain low because the $d$--metal bonding, and not the metallic hydrogen, dominates the behavior of electrons and phonons involved in the superconducting pairing in these compounds.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Origin of superconductivity and latent charge density wave in NbS$_2$

We elucidate the origin of the phonon-mediated superconductivity in 2$H$-NbS$_2$ using the ab initio anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory including Coulomb interactions. We demonstrate that superconductivity is associated with Fermi surface hot spots exhibiting an unusually strong electron-phonon interaction. The electron-lattice coupling is dominated by low-energy anharmonic phonons, which place the system on the verge of a charge density wave instability. We also provide definitive evidence for two-gap superconductivity in 2$H$-NbS$_2$, and show that the low- and high-energy peaks observed in tunneling spectra correspond to the $Γ$- and $K$-centered Fermi surface pockets, respectively. The present findings call for further efforts to determine whether our proposed mechanism underpins superconductivity in the whole family of metallic transition metal dichalcogenides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Search for high-Tc conventional superconductivity at megabar pressures in the lithium-sulfur system

Motivated by the recent report of superconductivity above 200 K in ultra-dense hydrogen sulfide, we search for high-\tc\ conventional superconductivity in the phase diagram of the binary Li-S system, using {\em ab-initio} methods for crystal structure prediction and linear response calculations for the electron-phonon coupling. We find that at pressures higher than 20 GPa, several new compositions, besides the known Li$_2$S, are stabilized; many exhibit electride-like {\em interstitial} charge localization observed in other alkali metal compounds. Of all predicted phases, only Li$_3$S at P > 640 GPa displays a sizable \tc, in contrast to what is observed in sulfur and phosphorus hydrides, where several stoichiometries lead to high \tc. We attribute this difference to 2$s$-2$p$ hybridization and avoided core overlap, and predict similar behavior for other alkali metal compounds.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Superconductivity in metastable phases of phosphorus-hydride compounds under high pressure

Hydrogen-rich compounds have been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally in the quest for novel high-temperature superconductors. Reports on sulfur-hydride attaining metallicity under pressure and exhibiting superconductivity at temperatures as high as 200 K have spurred an intense search for room-temperature superconductors in hydride materials. Recently, compressed phosphine was reported to metallize at pressures above 45 GPa, reaching a superconducting transition temperature (T$_{c}$) of 100 K at 200 GPa. However, neither the exact composition nor the crystal structure of the superconducting phase have been conclusively determined. In this work the phase diagram of PH$_n$ ($n=1,2,3,4,5,6$) was extensively explored by means of {\it ab initio} crystal structure predictions using the Minima Hopping Method (MHM). The results do not support the existence of thermodynamically stable PH$_n$ compounds, which exhibit a tendency for elemental decomposition at high pressure even when vibrational contributions to the free energies are taken into account. Although the lowest energy phases of PH$_{1,2,3}$ display T$_{c}$'s comparable to experiments, it remains uncertain if the measured values of T$_{c}$ can be fully attributed to a phase-pure compound of PH$_n$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗