More than doubled ambient superconducting transition in a heavily compressed aromatic hydrocarbon

ORAL

Abstract

Exploring superconductivity at higher transition temperatures $T_{\mathrm{c}}$s in light elements such as hydrogen and carbon and their organic compounds has long been an attractive issue. Cation-doped aromatic hydrocarbons have been discovered to be superconductive with an increasing $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ by adding more hydrocarbon rings. Here we present a discovery of an enhancement of $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ from the ambient 4.8 K to 12.2 K in compressed Ba$_{\mathrm{1.5}}$Phenanthrene by magnetic susceptibility measurements up to 61 GPa. In contrast to the existence of superconductivity within a very narrow pressure range in fullerides, we find that this organic compound maintains superconductivity at more than doubled ambient $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ even at 61 GPa. A phase transition in the region between 3.0 and 5.4 GPa and an orientational disorder at around 28 GPa are identified using synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique. A nice correction between $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ and the angle between two crystal axes indicates the essential role of electronic correlations.

*This work is supported by the U.S. DOE under Grant No. DE-SC0001057.

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Authors

  • Xiao-Jia Chen

    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015
    • Carnegie Institution of Washington
    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Wanshington, DC 20015, USA
    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C. 20015, USA

  • Takaki Muramatsu

    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015

  • Wenge Yang

    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015

  • Viktor Struzhkin Struzhkin

    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015

  • Ho-kwang Mao

    • Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015

  • Qingzhen Huang

    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

  • Zhen-Xing Qin

    • Department of Physics, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China

  • X.F. Wang

    • Hefei Natl Lab for Physical Science at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China

  • J.J. Ying

    • Hefei Natl Lab for Physical Science at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China

  • P. Cheng

    • Hefei Natl Lab for Physical Science at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China

  • Z.J. Xiang

    • Hefei Natl Lab for Physical Science at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China

  • X.H. Chen

    • Hefei Natl Lab for Physical Science at Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China