title: Superconductivity in alkali-doped fullerene nanowhiskers.
abstract: Superconductivity in alkali metal-doped fullerene nanowhiskers (C60NWs) was observed in K3.3C60NWs, Rb3.0C60NWs and Cs2.0Rb1.0C60NWs with transition temperatures at 17, 25 and 26 K, respectively. Almost full shielding volume fraction (~80%) was observed in K3.3C60NWs when subjected to thermal treatment at 200 °C for a duration of 24 h. In contrast, the shielding fraction of Rb3.0C60NWs and Cs2.0Rb1.0C60NWs were calculated to be 8% and 6%, respectively. Here we report on an extensive investigation of the superconducting properties of these AC60NWs (A  =  K3.3, Rb3.0 and Cs2.0Rb1.0). These properties are compared to the ones reported on the corresponding conventional (single-crystal or powder) K-doped fullerene. We also evaluated the critical current densities of these C60NWs using the Bean model under an applied magnetic field up to 50 kOe.
authors.affiliation: MANA, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeya
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.forename: Chika
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Takatsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakahara
authors.forename: Kun'ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: Takahide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takano