The recent observation of room-temperature superconductivity will undoubtedly lead to a surge in the discovery of new, dense, hydrogen-rich materials. The rare earth metal superhydrides are predicted to have very high-Tc superconductivity that is tunable with changes in stoichiometry or doping. Here we report the synthesis of a yttrium superhydride that exhibits superconductivity at a critical temperature of 262 K at 182 ± 8 GPa. A palladium thin film assists the synthesis by protecting the sputtered yttrium from oxidation and promoting subsequent hydrogenation. Phononmediated superconductivity is established by the observation of zero resistance, an isotope effect and the reduction of Tc under an external magnetic field. The upper critical magnetic field is 103 T at zero temperature.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.