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Related Concept Videos

Metallic Solids02:37

Metallic Solids

Metallic solids such as crystals of copper, aluminum, and iron are formed by metal atoms. The structure of metallic crystals is often described as a uniform distribution of atomic nuclei within a “sea” of delocalized electrons. The atoms within such a metallic solid are held together by a unique force known as metallic bonding that gives rise to many useful and varied bulk properties.
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and malleability. Many...
Types Of Superconductors01:28

Types Of Superconductors

A superconductor is a substance that offers zero resistance to the electric current when it drops below a critical temperature. Zero resistance is not the only interesting phenomenon as materials reach their transition temperatures. A second effect is the exclusion of magnetic fields. This is known as the Meissner effect. A light, permanent magnet placed over a superconducting sample will levitate in a stable position above the superconductor. High-speed trains that levitate on strong...
Superconductor01:24

Superconductor

A substance that reaches superconductivity, a state in which magnetic fields cannot penetrate, and there is no electrical resistance, is referred to as a superconductor. In 1911, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes of Leiden University, a Dutch physicist, observed a relation between the temperature and the resistance of the element mercury. The mercury sample was then cooled in liquid helium to study the linear dependence of resistance on temperature. It was observed that, as the temperature decreased, the...
Ionic Crystal Structures02:42

Ionic Crystal Structures

Ionic crystals consist of two or more different kinds of ions that usually have different sizes. The packing of these ions into a crystal structure is more complex than the packing of metal atoms that are the same size.
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Network Covalent Solids02:18

Network Covalent Solids

Network covalent solids contain a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms as found in the crystal structures of nonmetals like diamond, graphite, silicon, and some covalent compounds, such as silicon dioxide (sand) and silicon carbide (carborundum, the abrasive on sandpaper). Many minerals have networks of covalent bonds.
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
Molecular and Ionic Solids02:54

Molecular and Ionic Solids

Crystalline solids are divided into four types: molecular, ionic, metallic, and covalent network based on the type of constituent units and their interparticle interactions.
Molecular Solids
Molecular crystalline solids, such as ice, sucrose (table sugar), and iodine, are solids that are composed of neutral molecules as their constituent units. These molecules are held together by weak intermolecular forces such as London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole interactions, or hydrogen bonds, which...

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Fabrication and Optimization of Type II Silicon Clathrate Films
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Superconducting behavior in compressed solid SiH4 with a layered structure.

Xiao-Jia Chen1, Jiang-Long Wang, Viktor V Struzhkin

  • 1Department of Physics and ITP, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Physical Review Letters
|September 4, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Compressed silicon hydride (SiH4) exhibits insulating phases at low pressures and a metallic phase at high pressures. This metallic phase is predicted to be a superconductor with transition temperatures between 20-75 K.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computational Chemistry

Background:

  • Understanding the behavior of materials under extreme pressure is crucial for discovering new phases and properties.
  • Solid silane (SiH4) is a simple hydride with intriguing potential for high-pressure research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the electronic and lattice dynamical properties of compressed solid SiH4.
  • To identify stable phases and predict potential superconductivity in SiH4 at high pressures.

Main Methods:

  • Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were employed.
  • Simulations covered a pressure range up to 300 GPa.

Main Results:

  • Two insulating phases with P2(1)/c and Fdd2 symmetries were identified at low pressures.
  • A Cmca structure with a layered network was found to be the most likely metallic phase above 60 GPa.
  • The calculated superconducting transition temperature for the metallic phase ranges from 20 to 75 K.

Conclusions:

  • Solid SiH4 undergoes significant structural and electronic changes under compression.
  • The layered metallic Cmca phase of SiH4 is a potential high-temperature superconductor.