Synthesis of Weaire-Phelan Barium Polyhydride.

By combining pressures up to 50 GPa and temperatures of 1200 K, we synthesize the novel barium hydride, BaH, stable down to 27 GPa. We use Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and first-principles calculations to determine that this compound adopts a highly symmetric structure with an unusual 5:1 hydrogen-to-barium ratio. This singular stoichiometry corresponds to the well-defined type-I clathrate geometry. This clathrate consists of a Weaire-Phelan hydrogen structure with the barium atoms forming a topologically close-packed phase. In particular, the structure is formed by H and H clathrate cages showing substantially weakened H-H interactions. Density functional theory (DFT) demonstrates that cubic BaH requires dynamical effects to stabilize the H and H clathrate cages.