Specific heat of aluminium-doped superconducting silicon carbide

TL;DR

This study investigates the specific heat of aluminium-doped silicon carbide, confirming its bulk superconductivity at 1.5 K and suggesting BCS-like phonon-mediated pairing mechanism.

Contribution

It provides the first specific-heat measurements on aluminium-doped silicon carbide, demonstrating bulk superconductivity and insights into its pairing mechanism.

Findings

Clear specific heat jump at 1.5 K indicating bulk superconductivity

Evidence supporting BCS-like phonon-mediated superconductivity

Confirmation of aluminium-doped silicon carbide as a bulk superconductor

Abstract

The discoveries of superconductivity in heavily boron-doped diamond, silicon and silicon carbide renewed the interest in the ground states of charge-carrier doped wide-gap semiconductors. Recently, aluminium doping in silicon carbide successfully yielded a metallic phase from which at high aluminium concentrations superconductivity emerges. Here, we present a specific-heat study on superconducting aluminium-doped silicon carbide. We observe a clear jump anomaly at the superconducting transition temperature 1.5 K indicating that aluminium-doped silicon carbide is a bulk superconductor. An analysis of the jump anomaly suggests BCS-like phonon-mediated superconductivity in this system.