Absence of evidence of superconductivity in sulfur hydride in optical reflectance experiments
J.E. Hirsch, F. Marsiglio
Capitani and coworkers [1] reported that infrared optical reflectance
measurements provided evidence for a superconducting transition in sulfur
hydride [2] under 150 GPa pressure, and that the 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.
Rather, the data are consistent with the system remaining in the normal state
down to temperature 50K, the lowest temperature measured in the experiment.
This calls into further question [3,4] the generally accepted view [5] that
sulfur hydride under pressure is a high temperature superconductor.