Massive electrons and unconventional room-temperature superconductivity in superhydrides

Abstract

The search for room-temperature superconducting materials has been at the center of modern research for decades. The recent discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, under extreme pressure in hydrogen-rich materials, is a tremendous achievement in this research front. This discovery offers a route in the search for room temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure. The superconductivity of these hydrogen-rich materials was confirmed by the observation of zero-resistance, isotope effects, effect of magnetic field, and other standard properties. However, some of the experimental features were puzzling as they were not consistent with the known superconductivity theories. These debatable features have lead to a series of recent publications downplaying the existence of superconductivity in these superhydrides. Here we propose a concept of massive electrons under pressure and successfully explain all non-standard experimental observations. Our massive electron concept explains the large effective mass of the quasiparticles, the reason for the high critical temperatures for moderate electron-phonon couplings, and a 3-5 orders of magnitude larger conductivity causing a narrow resistivity broadening at the transition in the presence of magnetic field. We anticipate our findings will lead to a new directions and tweaks in current research in the search for ambient-pressure, room-temperature superconductors.