Highly reproducible superconductivity in potassium-doped triphenylbismuth

TL;DR

This study demonstrates highly reproducible superconductivity in potassium-doped triphenylbismuth, an organometallic molecule, with critical temperatures up to 7.2 K, using a novel synthesis method and comprehensive magnetic and spectroscopic analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a new two-step synthesis method for potassium-doped triphenylbismuth and confirms its superconductivity with detailed magnetic and electronic structure evidence.

Findings

100% of samples exhibit superconductivity at 3.5 K or 7.2 K

Type-II superconductor with upper critical field up to 1.0 Tesla

Superconductivity arises from electron transfer from potassium to carbon atoms

Abstract

Using a new two-step synthesis method - ultrasound treatment and low temperature annealing, we explore superconductivity in potassium-doped triphenylbismuth, which is composed of one bismuth atom and three phenyl rings. The combination of dc and ac magnetic measurements reveals that one hundred percent of synthesized samples exhibit superconductivity at 3.5 K and/or 7.2 K at ambient pressure. The magnetization hysteresis loops provide a strong evidence of type-II superconductor, with the upper critical magnetic field up to 1.0 Tesla. Both calculated electronic structure and measured Raman spectra indicate that superconductivity is realized by transferring electron from potassium to carbon atom. Our study opens an encouraging window for the search of organic superconductors in organometallic molecules.