Non‐Fermi‐Liquid Behavior of Superconducting SnH(4)

The chemical interaction of Sn with H(2) by X‐ray diffraction methods at pressures of 180–210 GPa is studied. A previously unknown tetrahydride SnH(4) with a cubic structure (fcc) exhibiting superconducting properties below T (C) = 72 K is obtained; the formation of a high molecular C2/m‐SnH(14) superhydride and several lower hydrides, fcc SnH(2), and C2‐Sn(12)H(18), is also detected. The temperature dependence of critical current density J (C)(T) in SnH(4) yields the superconducting gap 2Δ(0) = 21.6 meV at 180 GPa. SnH(4) has unusual behavior in strong magnetic fields: B,T‐linear dependences of magnetoresistance and the upper critical magnetic field B (C2)(T) ∝ (T (C) – T). The latter contradicts the Wertheimer–Helfand–Hohenberg model developed for conventional superconductors. Along with this, the temperature dependence of electrical resistance of fcc SnH(4) in non‐superconducting state exhibits a deviation from what is expected for phonon‐mediated scattering described by the Bloch‐Grüneisen model and is beyond the framework of the Fermi liquid theory. Such anomalies occur for many superhydrides, making them much closer to cuprates than previously believed.