Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Superconductivity in oxygen

Nature volume 393, pages 767–769 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Among the simple diatomic molecules, oxygen is of particular interest because it shows magnetism at low temperatures. Moreover, at pressures exceeding 95 GPa (∼0.95 Mbar), solid molecular oxygen becomes metallic, accompanied by a structural transition1. The metallization process is characterized by an increase in optical reflectivity2, and a change in the slope of the resistance–temperature curve3. Here we report that at pressures of around 100 GPa, solid oxygen becomes superconducting, with a transition temperature of 0.6 K. The transition is revealed by both resistivity measurements and a Meissner demagnetization signal.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Photographs of the oxygen sample and four electrodes on an insulated gasket in the pressure cell at pressures of a, 40; b, 6. 0; and c, 120 GPa.
Figure 2: Relative resistance (R/R1K) of oxygen as a function of temperature below 1 K at pressures of 98 (small circles)., 120 (large filled circles) and 125 GPa (open circles).
Figure 3: Magnetic field dependence of the transition at 120 GPa.
Figure 4: Detected Meissner signal from the superconducting oxygen at a magnetic field of 225 G.

References

  1. Akahama, Y. et al. New high-pressure structural transition of oxygen at 96 GPa associated with metallization in a molecular solid. Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4690–4693 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Desgreniers, S., Vohra, Y. K. & Ruoff, A. L. Optical response of very high density solid oxygen to 132 GPa. J. Phys. Chem. 94, 1117–1122 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Shimizu, K. et al. Oxygen under high pressure; temperature dependence of electrical resistance. Rev. High Pressure Sci. Technol. 7, 784–786 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kometani, S. et al. Observation of pressure-induced superconductivity of sulfur. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn 66, 2564–2565 (1997).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Akahama, Y. et al. Pressure-induced superconductivity and phase transition in selenium and tellurium. Solid State Commun. 84, 803–806 (1992).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank T. C. Kobayashi for helpful discussion. This work was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Material Physics, Faculty of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, 560-8531, Osaka, Japan

    K. Shimizu, K. Suhara, M. Ikumo & K. Amaya

  2. CREST of Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Kawaguchi, 332-0012, Saitama, Japan

    K. Shimizu, M. I. Eremets & K. Amaya

  3. Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Naka, 319-1195, Ibaraki, Japan

    K. Amaya

Authors
  1. K. Shimizu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. Suhara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Ikumo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. I. Eremets
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K. Amaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. Shimizu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shimizu, K., Suhara, K., Ikumo, M. et al. Superconductivity in oxygen. Nature 393, 767–769 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/31656

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/31656

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing