Superconductivity in Polycrystalline Diamond Thin Films

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of superconductivity in heavily boron-doped diamond thin films deposited via MPCVD, highlighting their controllable doping and high critical fields, with transition temperatures around 8.7K.

Contribution

It demonstrates superconductivity in boron-doped diamond films grown by MPCVD, emphasizing the advantages of this method over traditional high-pressure techniques.

Findings

Superconducting transition temperature of 8.7K

Upper critical field around 7T

High boron concentration achievable in (111) films

Abstract

Superconductivity was discovered in heavily boron-doped diamond thin films deposited by the microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) method. Advantages of the MPCVD deposited diamond are the controllability of boron concentration in a wide range, and a high boron concentration, especially in (111) oriented films, compared to that of the high-pressure high-temperature method. The superconducting transition temperatures are determined to be 8.7K for Tc onset and 5.0K for zero resistance by transport measurements. And the upper critical field is estimated to be around 7T.