Pressure-induced reappearance of superconductivity in the oC24 phase of lithium

• The lithium oC24 phase is dynamically stable in the pressure range of 90–200 GPa.
• The predicted Tc increases with pressure, and reaches 13.64 K at 200 GPa.
• There appears the reconstruction of the Fermi surface under compression.

Elements with low atomic numbers are expected to have high superconducting transition temperatures (Tc). Lithium, the lightest metallic element, has therefore been extensively investigated for superconductivity below 65 GPa. A new metallic phase of Li, oC24, has been recently identified above 95 GPa, but its superconductivity has remained unexplored. We report here an ab initio investigation of the phase׳s structural, electronic, dynamical, and superconducting properties at pressures of 100–200 GPa, and show that this phase is dynamically stable within the considered pressure region. The predicted Tc increases with pressure, and reaches 13.64 K at 200 GPa. This observation is a consequence of the reconstruction of the Fermi surface and the rapidly increased electronic density of states at the Fermi level under compression.