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Absence of evidence of superconductivity in sulfur hydride in optical reflectance experiments

Nature Physics volume 18, pages 1033–1035 (2022)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 11 August 2022

The Original Article was published on 19 June 2017

arising from Roy, P. et al. Nature Physics https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01694-w (2022).

In ref. 1, Capitani and co-workers reported infrared optical reflectance measurements that provided evidence for a superconducting transition in sulfur hydride2 (H3S) under 150 GPa pressure, and that this transition is driven by the electron–phonon interaction. Here we argue that the measured data did not provide evidence that the system undergoes a transition to a superconducting state, nor do the data support any role of phonons in driving a transition. The data are instead consistent with the system remaining in the normal state down to a temperature of 50 K, the lowest temperature measured in the experiment.

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Fig. 1: Raw data for measured reflectance of H3S.
Fig. 2: Optical data at low energies.
Fig. 3: Optical data at intermediate energies.

References

  1. Capitani, F. Spectroscopic evidence of a new energy scale for superconductivity in H3S. Nat. Phys. 13, 859–863 (2017).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to T. Timusk and P. Roy for providing the raw data and additional information and for helpful discussions. F.M. was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and by an MIF from the Province of Alberta.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    J. E. Hirsch

  2. Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    F. Marsiglio

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  1. J. E. Hirsch
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J.E.H. and F.M. contributed equally to all aspects of the preparation of this work.

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Correspondence to J. E. Hirsch.

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Nature Physics thanks Pascale Roy and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work

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Hirsch, J.E., Marsiglio, F. Absence of evidence of superconductivity in sulfur hydride in optical reflectance experiments. Nat. Phys. 18, 1033–1035 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01693-x

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