Alkali-Fulleride Superconductors: Synthesis, Composition, and Diamagnetic Shielding

Abstract

The recent report of a superconductivity onset near the critical temperature T c = 18 K in potassium-doped C 60 raises questions concerning the composition and stability of the superconducting phase. The effects of mixing and heat treatment of K χ C 60 samples prepared over a wide range of initial compositions on the superconducting transition was determined from shielding diamagnetism measurements. A single superconducting phase ( T c = 19.3 K) occurs for which the composition is K 3 C 60 . The shielding reaches a maximum of greater than 40 percent of the perfect diamagnetism, a high value for a powder sample, in samples prepared from 3:1 mixtures. A Rb χ C 60 sample prepared and analyzed in an analogous way exhibited evidence for superconductivity with T c = 30 K and a diamagnetic shielding of 7 percent could be obtained.