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Solid molecular hydrogen has been predicted to be metallic and high-temperature superconducting at ultrahigh hydrostatic pressures that push current experimental limits. Meanwhile, little is known about the influence of nonhydrostatic conditions on its electronic properties at extreme pressures where anisotropic stresses are inevitably present and may also be intentionally introduced. Here we show by first-principles calculations that solid molecular hydrogen compressed to multimegabar pressures can sustain large anisotropic compressive or shear stresses that, in turn, cause major crystal symmetry reduction and charge redistribution that accelerate bandgap closure and promote superconductivity relative to pure hydrostatic compression. Our findings highlight a hitherto largely unexplored mechanism for creating superconducting dense hydrogen, with implications for exploring similar phenomena in hydrogen-rich compounds and other molecular crystals. 

The anomalous nondipolar and nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune have long challenged conventional views of planetary dynamos. A thin-shell dynamo conjecture captures the observed phenomena but leaves unexplained the fundamental material basis and underlying mechanism. Here we report extensive quantum-mechanical calculations of polymorphism in the hydrogen–oxygen system at the pressures and temperatures of the deep interiors of these ice giant planets (to >600 GPa and 7,000 K). The results reveal the surprising stability of solid and fluid trihydrogen oxide (H 3 O) at these extreme conditions. Fluid H 3 O is metallic and calculated to be stable near the cores of Uranus and Neptune. As a convecting fluid, the material could give rise to the magnetic field consistent with the thin-shell dynamo model proposed for these planets. H 3 O could also be a major component in both solid and superionic forms in other (e.g., nonconvecting) layers. The results thus provide a materials basis for understanding the enigmatic magnetic-field anomalies and other aspects of the interiors of Uranus and Neptune. These findings have direct implications for the internal structure, composition, and dynamos of related exoplanets.