Superconducting Pd-hydrides and -deuterides synthesized under high pressure in a diamond-anvil-cell

A diamond anvil cell for pressures up to 1 Mbar has been developed for the synthesis of metal-hydrides in thermodynamic equilibrium with compressed molecular hydrogen gas. As example of an application of this new technique results on the critical temperature and its pressure dependence for stoichiometric palladium hydrides and deuterides are presented and discussed within the context of the standard BCS-theory of superconductivity. The behaviour of PdH and PdD under pressure is compared to that of the recently discovered high-Tc superconducting metal-oxides and fundamental differences are found. (orig.)