We report the preparation method of, and boron isotope effect for MgB2, a new binary intermetallic superconductor with a remarkably high superconducting transition temperature Tc(10B) = 40.2 K. Measurements of both temperature dependent magnetization and specific heat reveal a 1.0 K shift in Tc between Mg11B2 and Mg10B2. Whereas such a high transition temperature might imply exotic coupling mechanisms, the boron isotope effect in MgB2 is consistent with the material being a phonon-mediated BCS superconductor.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0101463,
title = {Boron Isotope Effect in Superconducting MgB$_2$},
author = {S. L. Bud'ko and G. Lapertot and C. Petrovic and C. E. Cunningham and N. Anderson and P. C. Canfield},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0101463},
year = {2009}
}