Predictions of superconducting properties from chemical bonding interactions

Abstract

The need for rapid estimates of superconducting critical temperatures, Tc s, is becoming increasingly urgent as first-principles and artificial intelligence based methods enable the exploration of ever-larger and more chemically complex materials spaces. In this context, chemical bonding based quantities have emerged as promising descriptors for predicting superconductivity. To date, these approaches have mainly been developed for hydride superconductors, notably through the networking value, a descriptor based upon the electron localization function, whose topological properties have been found to correlate with Tc . In this perspective, we review and consolidate the method's theory, and we discuss how the estimate of the Tc is achievable within a real-space view. We conclude by proposing a framework that enables Tc prediction for the broad family of conventional superconductors from easily computable intermediate physical quantities.