IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v615y2023i7950d10.1038_s41586-022-05657-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Critical role of hydrogen for superconductivity in nickelates

Author

Listed:
  • Xiang Ding

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Charles C. Tam

    (Harwell Campus
    University of Bristol)

  • Xuelei Sui

    (Beijing Computational Science Research Center)

  • Yan Zhao

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Minghui Xu

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Jaewon Choi

    (Harwell Campus)

  • Huaqian Leng

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Ji Zhang

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Mei Wu

    (Peking University)

  • Haiyan Xiao

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Xiaotao Zu

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Mirian Garcia-Fernandez

    (Harwell Campus)

  • Stefano Agrestini

    (Harwell Campus)

  • Xiaoqiang Wu

    (Chengdu University)

  • Qingyuan Wang

    (Chengdu University)

  • Peng Gao

    (Peking University)

  • Sean Li

    (University of New South Wales)

  • Bing Huang

    (Beijing Computational Science Research Center
    Beijing Normal University)

  • Ke-Jin Zhou

    (Harwell Campus)

  • Liang Qiao

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

Abstract

The newly discovered nickelate superconductors so far only exist in epitaxial thin films synthesized by a topotactic reaction with metal hydrides1. This method changes the nickelates from the perovskite to an infinite-layer structure by deintercalation of apical oxygens1–3. Such a chemical reaction may introduce hydrogen (H), influencing the physical properties of the end materials4–9. Unfortunately, H is insensitive to most characterization techniques and is difficult to detect because of its light weight. Here, in optimally Sr doped Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2H epitaxial films, secondary-ion mass spectroscopy shows abundant H existing in the form of Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2Hx (x ≅ 0.2–0.5). Zero resistivity is found within a very narrow H-doping window of 0.22 ≤ x ≤ 0.28, showing unequivocally the critical role of H in superconductivity. Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering demonstrates the existence of itinerant interstitial s (IIS) orbitals originating from apical oxygen deintercalation. Density functional theory calculations show that electronegative H– occupies the apical oxygen sites annihilating IIS orbitals, reducing the IIS–Ni 3d orbital hybridization. This leads the electronic structure of H-doped Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2Hx to be more two-dimensional-like, which might be relevant for the observed superconductivity. We highlight that H is an important ingredient for superconductivity in epitaxial infinite-layer nickelates.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiang Ding & Charles C. Tam & Xuelei Sui & Yan Zhao & Minghui Xu & Jaewon Choi & Huaqian Leng & Ji Zhang & Mei Wu & Haiyan Xiao & Xiaotao Zu & Mirian Garcia-Fernandez & Stefano Agrestini & Xiaoqiang W, 2023. "Critical role of hydrogen for superconductivity in nickelates," Nature, Nature, vol. 615(7950), pages 50-55, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:615:y:2023:i:7950:d:10.1038_s41586-022-05657-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05657-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05657-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41586-022-05657-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chao Chen & Peigeng Zhong & Xuelei Sui & Runyu Ma & Ying Liang & Shijie Hu & Tianxing Ma & Hai-Qing Lin & Bing Huang, 2024. "Charge stripe manipulation of superconducting pairing symmetry transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Kejun Hu & Qing Li & Dongsheng Song & Yingze Jia & Zhiyao Liang & Shuai Wang & Haifeng Du & Hai-Hu Wen & Binghui Ge, 2024. "Atomic scale disorder and reconstruction in bulk infinite-layer nickelates lacking superconductivity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:615:y:2023:i:7950:d:10.1038_s41586-022-05657-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.