Chemistry Nexus

Workers in Russia and Los Alamos, USA report in Nature¹ superconductivity in boron-doped diamond synthesized at high pressure (nearly 100,000 atmospheres) and temperature (2500-2800 K). Electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and field-dependent resistance measurements show that boron-doped diamond (carbon) is a bulk, type-II superconductor below the superconducting transition temperature T_c 4 K.

Boron has one less electron than carbon and, because of its small atomic radius, is relatively easily incorporated into diamond.