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Semimetallic molecular hydrogen at pressure above 350 GPa

Nature Physics volume 15, pages 1246–1249 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

According to theoretical predictions, insulating molecular hydrogen dissociates and transforms into an atomic metal at pressures P ≈ 370–500 GPa (refs. 1,2,3). In another scenario, the metallization first occurs in the 250–500 GPa pressure range in molecular hydrogen through overlapping of electronic bands4,5,6,7. The calculations are not accurate enough to predict which option is realized. Here, we show that at a pressure of 350–360 GPa and temperatures <200 K, the hydrogen starts to conduct, and that the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity is typical of a semimetal. The conductivity, measured up to 440 GPa, increases strongly with pressure. Raman spectra, measured up to 480 GPa, indicate that hydrogen remains a molecular solid at pressures up to 440 GPa, while at higher pressures the Raman signal vanishes, probably indicating further transformation to a good molecular metal or to an atomic state.

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Fig. 1: Low-temperature part of the phase diagram of hydrogen.
Fig. 2: Raman scattering from hydrogen taken at T ∼ 100 K.
Fig. 3: Electrical resistance of hydrogen at different pressures.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Support provided by the European Research Council under Advanced Grant 267777 is acknowledged. We acknowledge Th. Timusk, V. Kresin, L. Boeri, F. Balakirev, Sh. Mozaffari and D. Graf for helpful discussions and comments. M.I.E. is grateful to the Max Planck community for the invaluable support, and U. Pöschl for the constant encouragement.

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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Mainz, Germany

    M. I. Eremets, A. P. Drozdov, P. P. Kong & H. Wang

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All authors equally contributed to this work. M.I.E. designed the study and wrote the manuscript together with A.P.D.

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Correspondence to M. I. Eremets.

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Eremets, M.I., Drozdov, A.P., Kong, P.P. et al. Semimetallic molecular hydrogen at pressure above 350 GPa. Nat. Phys. 15, 1246–1249 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0646-x

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