Kinetic instability and superconductivity in and at ambient pressure
Phys. Rev. B 114, 014508 – Published 16 July, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/w7rx-sknt
Abstract
and have been proposed as promising candidates for high-temperature superconductors under ambient pressure. While previous studies confirm the dynamic stability of these two thermodynamically unstable systems, their kinetic stability against quantum and thermal fluctuations remains to be verified. In this work, we use path integral molecular dynamics simulations to examine the kinetic stability of and under ambient pressure. We find both compounds are kinetically unstable. undergoes lattice collapse, whereas retains a stable fluorite-type Li-Au sublattice, but hydrogen atoms partially dimerize into molecules and diffuse within the host lattice. Using the stochastic path-integral approach, which is a nonperturbative approach applicable to systems with diffusive atoms, we investigate the superconductivity of in this state. We predict a superconducting transition temperature of 22 K, well below earlier predictions, due to the low density of states at the Fermi level caused by the collapse of hydrogen sublattice and hydrogen dimerization.