Short Note on the Observation of Ambient Condition Room Temperature Superconductivity in Nitrogen-Doped Lutetium Hydride

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10948-023-06563-y

The field of superconductivity has attracted eight Nobel prizes so far—five for experimental discoveries and three for theoretical advance. Since the discovery of superconductivity, the quest for materials which show superconductivity at ambient conditions has been a major priority. The observation of superconductivity at room temperature (RT) in N-doped lutetium hydride [1] has therefore attracted much excitement, but also a number of open questions; for example, a recent comment [2] notes the limitations of the experimental techniques used in [1] to confirm superconductivity at RT—these are mostly limited to measurements of zero electrical resistivity using a standard four-probe electrical technique. However, ultimate proof of superconductivity requires the observation of a non-decaying (i.e., persistent) supercurrent in a ring geometry as executed by Kamerlingh Onnes in 1914 [3]. Furthermore, an ideal superconductor will show infinite electrical conductivity as well as perfect diamagnetism [4]. In view of the limited verification methods in [1] and points raised in [2,3,4] and elsewhere, this short note highlights reports of RT superconductivity in the literature that spectacularly backfired.