Superconductivity in Boron-Doped Carbon Nanotubes

• Published in: Journal of superconductivity and novel magnetism 2011-01, Vol.24 (1-2), p.111-120
• Main Authors: Haruyama, J., Matsudaira, M., Reppert, J., Rao, A., Koretsune, T., Saito, S., Sano, H., Iye, Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon nanotubes; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Correlation; Density of states; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fermi surfaces; Magnetic Materials; Magnetic properties; Magnetism; Mesoscopic and nanoscale systems; Original Paper; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Properties of type I and type II superconductors; Strongly Correlated Systems; Superconducting films and low-dimensional structures; Superconductivity; Superconductors; Thin films
• ISSN: 1557-1939; 1557-1947
• DOI: 10.1007/s10948-010-0906-6

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which are one-dimensional (1D) molecular conductors, have attracted considerable attention. However, none of the research has reported on superconductivity (SC) in carrier-doped CNTs. Here, we report on SC with the world’s highest transition temperature ( T c ) of 12 K in highly uniform thin films of boron-doped single-walled CNTs ( B -SWNTs). We clarify correlation of SC with Fermi level tuning with van Hove singularities (VHS) in electronic density of states (DOS) in the SWNT. Moreover, we show fabrication of paper-like thin films consisting of a pseudo two-dimensional network of weakly coupled B -SWNTs (called the Buckypaper) and show an enhancement of the onset T c up to 19 K by applying only a small pressure. The present observations will shed light on the high feasibility of using CNTs as a 1D superconductor and also on the research of 1D electron correlation.