Pressure-induced hydrogen-dominant metallic state in aluminum hydride.
Two structural transitions in covalent aluminum hydride AlH3 were characterized at high pressure. A metallic phase stable above 100 GPa is found to have a remarkably simple cubic structure with shortest first-neighbor H-H distances ever measured except in H2 molecule. Although the high-pressure phase is predicted to be superconductive, this was not observed experimentally down to 4 K over the pressure range 120-164 GPa. The results indicate that the superconducting behavior may be more complex than anticipated.
Goncharenko
Igor
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Laboratoire Léon Brillouin C.E.A.-C.N.R.S., CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Eremets
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Hanfland
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Tse
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Amboage
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Yao
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Trojan
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