Superconducting and normal state properties of heavily hole-doped diamond synthesized at high pressure

Abstract

Diamonds, synthesized at high pressures and high temperatures in the presence of boron, are heavily hole-doped by incorporation of boron into the diamond lattice. These diamonds become superconducting below Tc=2–9 K. Synthesis in the systems B-C and B4C-C at P=9 GPa and T=2500–2800 K result in formation of polycrystalline carbonado-like material, whereas synthesis from B-C-H gives small single crystals and intergrowth plates. Dense superconducting bodies can be prepared by compacting these single crystal particles at P=8 GPa and T=1800 K. Specific heat and resistivity measurements in magnetic fields prove the bulk nature of superconductivity in all pressure-synthesized samples and provide a consistent set of materials parameters that favor a conventional weak-coupling electron–phonon interpretation of the superconducting mechanism at high hole doping. Schottky barrier tunneling conductance spectra, obtained with contacts fabricated at the surface of these hole-doped diamonds, indicate the appearance of superconducting gap below Tc.