High-temperature superconductivity in a two-dimensional electride

Gui Wang; Pu Huang; Zhengfang Qian; Peng Zhang; Su-Huai Wei

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.109.014504

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High-temperature superconductivity in a two-dimensional electride

Gui Wang, Pu Huang, Zhengfang Qian, Peng Zhang, Su-Huai Wei

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.014504 · Physical Review B

T1

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Abstract

Electrides constitute a unique class of materials that can be developed as conventional superconductors with diverse dimensional superconductivity. However, the transition temperatures (Tc) of electride superconductors are generally low and promoting their Tc usually requires extremely high external pressures that are formidable for practical applications. Here, based on the first-principles calculations, we proposed that the recently reported electride, Be2N, can exhibit a two-dimensional (2D) superconductivity, which has a Tc of 10.3 K that is the highest Tc ever found for bulk electride superconductors at ambient pressure. More interestingly, we found that the high Tc of Be2N is mainly attributed to the large average phonon frequency, rather than the strong electron-phonon coupling, which can be further understood by the small atomic weight of Be atoms and the strong Be-N bonds. Moreover, compared to most conventional superconductors, we identified an unusual dependence of the superconductivity of Be2N on external pressures, originating from a unique charge transfer from its cationic framework to its anionic electron cloud. Our studies provide a deeper understanding of the superconductivity of 2D electrides and suggest a feasible way for the development of high-temperature electride superconductors at ambient pressure.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
Be2N Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	10.3	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Be2N Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	12.5	5 GPa	unknown
Ca2N Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	4.7	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Ba2N Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	3.4	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Mg2N Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	0.3	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Y2C Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	0.9	Pressure unresolved	unknown
MgONa Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	3.4	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Nb5Ir3 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	9.4	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Zr5Sb3 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	2.3	Pressure unresolved	unknown
Li5Si Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	1.1	Pressure unresolved	unknown
AlH2 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	38	Pressure unresolved	unknown