Superconductivity in compressed hydrogen-rich materials: Pressing on hydrogen

• Anharmonic phonons (quartic anharmonicity) responsible for low Tc in metal hydrides.
• Hydrogen-rich group IVA materials are reviewed, SiH4 and GeH4.
• Polyhydrides of alkali and alkaline earth metals are shown to have potential for high Tc.
• Predictions of room temperature superconductivity in hydrogen and hydrides are critically reviewed.

Periodic table of elements starts with hydrogen, a simplest element of all. The simplicity is lost when the element is compressed to high densities or participates in a chemical bonding in compounds, being subjected to “chemical pressure” of surrounding atoms or molecules. The chemical nature of hydrogen is dictated by its simplest electronic shell, which has only one electron. Hydrogen can donate this electron and behave like alkali metal, or accept an extra electron and form a hydride ion with closed shell resembling a group VII element. The complexity of hydrogen goes beyond these simplest configurations, when hydrogen is involved in a multicenter bonding or in hydrogen bonds. This complex behavior is tightly related to the ability of hydrogen to participate in the process of electronic transport in solids and potentially be able to contribute to the superconductivity in a material. Hydrogen by itself when compressed to immense pressures of 400–500 GPa may form a simple atomic phase with very high critical superconducting temperatures (Tc) well above room temperature. While this theoretical insight awaits confirmation at pressures at the limit of current experimental capabilities, a variety of other hydrogen-rich materials have been suggested recently to have record high Tc values. The very existence of many of these materials still lacks experimental confirmation. In this review article, we will present an extensive list of such predicted materials. We will also review superconductivity in classical hydrides (mostly metal hydrides) and current theoretical understanding of relatively low Tc‘s in metal hydrides of transition and noble metals.