Scientists Discover Superconducting Energy Gap in H3S
Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding high-temperature superconductivity. A team led by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry has measured the superconducting gap in H3S, a hydrogen-rich material. The discovery, published in Nature, offers direct microscopic evidence of superconductivity in such materials.
The research team, headed by H. M. Bozˇovic´ and N. P. Armitage, found that the superconducting gap in H3S is approximately 60 millielectronvolts (meV). This measurement is a substantial step towards comprehending the pairing mechanism of electrons in these materials, as the superconducting gap is a fundamental property that reveals how electrons pair up in a superconducting state.
Measuring this gap in hydrogen-rich materials is notoriously challenging due to the extreme pressures required for their synthesis. However, the team successfully employed high-pressure electron tunneling spectroscopy to achieve this. In addition to H3S, they also studied D3S, finding a smaller gap of about 44 meV. This supports a long-standing theoretical prediction about electron-phonon interactions causing superconductivity in H3S.
The discovery of the superconducting gap in H3S and D3S provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-rich materials. This breakthrough paves the way for further research and potential applications in clean energy technologies.
