Synthesis of C6M superconductors using Li-M alloys (M=Ca and Yb): Request for urgent small grant funding

去年我们发现了两个新的超导体，C6Yb和C6Ca。这两种化合物的转变温度分别为6.5和11.5开尔文。这种转变温度在石墨层间化合物中是史无前例的，并在实验和理论上导致了新的活性。新的理论工作表明，这些超导体中的温度升高很可能源于激子和/或等离子激子耦合的增强。该项目的这一方面将是一个更大的合作项目的核心。在这个阶段，最重要的是制备C6Ca和C6Yb的清洁样品。这个项目的目的是在英国建立一个新的增长过程，并保持我们的科学领先地位。这是一个迫在眉睫的问题，因为法国南希的另一个小组已经证明了这种新的生长方法导致了单相C6Ca。总而言之，我们需要6个月的资金来建立种植纯C6Ca和C6Yb的方法，以保持我们在该领域的领先地位。

Last year we discovered two new superconductors, C6Yb and C6Ca. These two compounds have transition temperatures of 6.5 and 11.5 kelvin respectively. These transition temperatures are unprecedented in graphite intercalation compounds and has led to renewed activity both experimentally and theoretically. New theoretical work suggests that the elevated temperatures in these superconductors may well derive from an enhancement associated with exciton and or plasmon coupling. This aspect of the project will be at the core of a larger collaborative project.Most important at this stage is the preparation of clean samples of C6Ca and C6Yb. This project is intended to establish a new growth process in the UK and maintain our scientific lead. This is a matter of urgency since a separate group in Nancy (France) have demonstrated that this new growth method leads to single phase C6Ca. To summarise we need funding for 6 months to establish the method of growing pure C6Ca and C6Yb in order to maintain our lead in this field.