Optical studies of solid hydrogen to 320 GPa and evidence for black hydrogen

The quest for metallic hydrogen at high pressures represents a longstanding problem in condensed matter physics1,2. Recent calculations3,4,5,6 have predicted that solid hydrogen should become a molecular metal at pressures above 300 GPa, before transforming into an alkali metal; but the strong quantum nature of the problem makes the predictions difficult. Over a decade ago, an optical study7 of hydrogen was made using a diamond anvil cell to reach 250 GPa. However, despite many subsequent efforts, quantitative studies8,9,10,11 at higher pressures have proved difficult and their conclusions controversial. Here we report optical measurements of solid hydrogen up to a pressure of 320 GPa at 100 K. The vibron signature of the H2 molecule persists to at least 316 GPa; no structural changes are detected above 160 GPa, and solid hydrogen is observed to turn completely opaque at 320 GPa. We measure the absorption edge of hydrogen above 300 GPa, observing features characteristic of a direct electronic bandgap. This is at odds with the most recent theoretical calculations that predict much larger direct transition energies and the closure of an indirect gap3,4,5,6. We predict that metal hydrogen should be observed at about 450 GPa when the direct gap closes.