Superconducting Phenomena in Graphitic Materials
Summary
Graphitic materials have emerged as a versatile platform for the study of unconventional superconductivity. Beyond purely crystalline graphene, naturally occurring graphite and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) reveal superconducting signatures localised at two-dimensional interfaces, stacking faults and twisted regions. These phenomena encompass granular superconductivity in rhombohedral–Bernal boundaries, Josephson coupling between superconducting domains and long-range proximity effects when interfaced with conventional superconductors. Resistive transitions well above liquid-helium temperatures, magnetic flux expulsion and persistent currents at room temperature point to a rich interplay between structural order, dimensional confinement and electronic correlation. Central to these discoveries is the recognition that two-dimensional interfaces in a nominally semimetallic host can support superconducting condensates even when the bulk remains non-superconducting. The sensitivity of these regions to local strain, twist angle and doping underscores their tunability and suggests routes to engineer superconductivity in carbon-based heterostructures. Ongoing advances in microfabrication, local probe microscopy and magnetometry continue to unravel the mechanisms behind pairing, flux pinning and phase coherence in graphitic superconductors. The global significance of this field lies in its potential for high-performance quantum devices, energy-efficient interconnects and room-temperature superconductivity, bridging fundamental science and emerging technologies.
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Superconducting Phenomena in Graphitic Materials publication trend
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Technical terms
Superconductivity: A phase of matter exhibiting zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields below a critical temperature.
Josephson coupling: Tunnelling of Cooper pairs between superconducting regions separated by a thin barrier, leading to phase-coherent currents.
Granular superconductivity: Superconducting behaviour arising from discrete, spatially separated superconducting grains embedded in a non-superconducting matrix.
Proximity effect: Induction of superconducting correlations in a normal material when placed in contact with a superconductor.
Stacking fault: A planar defect in layered materials where the usual sequence of atomic layers is locally disrupted.
Flux creep: Thermally activated motion of magnetic vortices in a type-II superconductor, leading to time-dependent changes in trapped magnetic flux.
References
- Identification of a possible superconducting transition above room temperature in natural graphite crystals. New Journal of Physics (2016).
- Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded at the interfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. New Journal of Physics (2013).
- On the Localization of Persistent Currents Due to Trapped Magnetic Flux at the Stacking Faults of Graphite at Room Temperature. Materials (2022).
- Macroscopic-ranged proximity effect in graphite. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter (2021).
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