New publication in Physical Review X:
Superconducting fluctuations observed far above Tc in the isotropic superconductor K3C60
G. Jotzu, G. Meier, A. Cantaluppi, A. Cavalleri, D. Pontiroli, M. Riccò, A. Ardavan, M.-S. Nam
Physical Review X 13, 021008 (2023)
Abstract
Alkali-doped fullerides are strongly correlated organic superconductors that exhibit high transition temperatures, exceptionally large critical magnetic fields, and a number of other unusual properties. The
proximity to a Mott insulating phase is thought to be a crucial ingredient of the underlying physics and may also affect precursors of superconductivity in the normal state above Tc. We report on the observation of a sizable magneto-thermoelectric (Nernst) effect in the normal state of K3C60, which displays the characteristics of superconducting fluctuations. This nonquasiparticle Nernst effect emerges from an ordinary quasiparticle background below a temperature of 80 K, far above Tc =20 K. At the lowest fields and close to Tc, the scaling of the effect is captured by a model based on Gaussian fluctuations. The behavior at higher magnetic fields displays a symmetry between the magnetic length and the correlation length of the system. The temperature up to which we observe fluctuations is exceptionally high for a threedimensional isotropic system, where fluctuation effects are expected to be suppressed.