Ultrahigh-pressure isostructural electronic transitions in hydrogen

Cheng Ji, Bing Li, Wenjun Liu, Jesse S. Smith, Arnab Majumdar, Wei Luo, Rajeev Ahuja, Jinfu Shu, Junyue Wang, Stanislav Sinogeikin, Yue Meng, Vitali B. Prakapenka, Eran Greenberg, Ruqing Xu, Xianrong Huang, Wenge Yang, Guoyin Shen, Wendy L. Mao and Ho-Kwang Mao ()
Additional contact information
Cheng Ji: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Bing Li: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Wenjun Liu: Argonne National Laboratory
Jesse S. Smith: Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Arnab Majumdar: Uppsala University
Wei Luo: Uppsala University
Rajeev Ahuja: Uppsala University
Jinfu Shu: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Junyue Wang: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Stanislav Sinogeikin: Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Yue Meng: Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Vitali B. Prakapenka: University of Chicago
Eran Greenberg: University of Chicago
Ruqing Xu: Argonne National Laboratory
Xianrong Huang: Argonne National Laboratory
Wenge Yang: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Guoyin Shen: Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Wendy L. Mao: Stanford University
Ho-Kwang Mao: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research

Nature, 2019, vol. 573, issue 7775, 558-562

Abstract: Abstract High-pressure transitions are thought to modify hydrogen molecules to a molecular metallic solid and finally to an atomic metal1, which is predicted to have exotic physical properties and the topology of a two-component (electron and proton) superconducting superfluid condensate2,3. Therefore, understanding such transitions remains an important objective in condensed matter physics4,5. However, measurements of the crystal structure of solid hydrogen, which provides crucial information about the metallization of hydrogen under compression, are lacking for most high-pressure phases, owing to the considerable technical challenges involved in X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements under extreme conditions. Here we present a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of solid hydrogen at pressures of up to 254 gigapascals that reveals the crystallographic nature of the transitions from phase I to phases III and IV. Under compression, hydrogen molecules remain in the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal lattice structure, accompanied by a monotonic increase in anisotropy. In addition, the pressure-dependent decrease of the unit cell volume exhibits a slope change when entering phase IV, suggesting a second-order isostructural phase transition. Our results indicate that the precursor to the exotic two-component atomic hydrogen may consist of electronic transitions caused by a highly distorted hcp Brillouin zone and molecular-symmetry breaking.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1565-9

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