Superconducting graphite intercalation compounds with calcium

Abstract

In the graphite–lithium–calcium system, four well-defined intercalation compounds were synthesised. Two of them, CaC 6 and Li 3Ca 2C 6, exhibit superconducting properties at 11.5 K and 11.15 K, respectively, the highest critical temperatures among those of graphite intercalation compounds. The samples are synthesised using a liquid–solid method allowing the preparation of pure bulk samples, auspicious for crystallographic and magnetic measurements. The crystal structure of CaC 6 was entirely specified; this compound crystallises in the R-3 m space group. The two-dimensional unit cell of Li 3Ca 2C 6 is hexagonal and commensurate with that of graphite and the intercalated sheets, very rich in metal, are seven-layered. The magnetic properties of these phases were studied with an applied field parallel and perpendicular to the graphene sheets. In both cases the magnetic phase diagram indicates that these compounds are type II superconducting materials slightly anisotropic in spite of their lamellar structure. In the case of CaC 6, in-plane magnetic penetration depth measurements show a clear exponential behaviour at low temperatures, consistent with an s-wave symmetry of the gap function, well fitted by the standard BCS theory in the dirty limit.