Conventional superconductivity at 190 K at high pressures

Understand

The highest critical temperature of superconductivity Tc has been achieved in cuprates: 133 K at ambient pressure and 164 K at high pressures.

• As the nature of superconductivity in these materials is still not disclosed, the prospects for a higher Tc are not clear.
• In contrast the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory gives a clear guide for achieving high Tc: it should be a favorable combination of high frequency phonons, strong coupling between electrons and phonons, and high density of states.
• These conditions can be fulfilled for metallic hydrogen and covalent hydrogen dominant compounds.