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Updated: Jan 13, 2026
Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Ambient Stabilization of Metastable Face-Centered Cubic Lanthanide Trihydrides
Keyu Shi1, Yingjian Li2, Pinwen Zhu1
1Synergetic Extreme Condition High-Pressure Science Center and State Key Laboratory of High Pressure and Superhard Materials, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
Abstract:
Achieving ambient stability of hydrogen-rich materials synthesized under extreme conditions remains a major barrier to unlocking their functional potential. Here, we report a general high-pressure-high-temperature (HPHT) strategy using large volume press (LVP) to stabilize metastable face-centered cubic (fcc) phases of lanthanide trihydrides (LnH3, Ln = Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm) at ambient conditions. These fcc phases, which normally revert to trigonal structures upon decompression, are retained through controlled hydrogenation of LnH2 precursors in the presence of ammonia borane. Structural characterization confirms the successful recovery of seven fcc-LnH3 compounds, and systematic trends in lattice parameters and H-induced volume expansion are established across the lanthanide series. First-principles calculations reveal that these fcc phases are thermodynamically metastable, lying up to 70 meV/atom above the ground state, but dynamically stabilized at room temperature via strong anharmonic lattice vibrations. All fcc-LnH3 compounds are wide-bandgap semiconductors with paramagnetic behavior, in sharp contrast to the metallic superconductivity of clathrate superhydrides. Our findings deliver a broadly applicable synthesis route and expand the functionality of hydrogen-rich materials beyond superconductivity, setting a new benchmark for exploring their diverse electronic and magnetic states at ambient conditions.
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