English

Two-gap superconductivity in heavily n-doped graphene: ab initio Migdal-Eliashberg theory

Superconductivity 2015-06-22 v1

Abstract

Graphene is the only member of the carbon family from zero- to three-dimensional materials for which superconductivity has not been observed yet. At this time, it is not clear whether the quest for superconducting graphene is hindered by technical challenges, or else by the fluctuation of the order parameter in two dimensions. In this area, ab initio calculations are useful to guide experimental efforts by narrowing down the search space. In this spirit, we investigate from first principles the possibility of inducing superconductivity in doped graphene using the fully anisotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory powered by Wannier-Fourier interpolation. To address a best-case scenario, we consider both electron and hole doping at high carrier densities, so as to align the Fermi level to a van Hove singularity. In these conditions, we find superconducting gaps of ss-wave symmetry, with a slight anisotropy induced by the trigonal warping, and, in the case of nn-doped graphene, an unexpected two-gap structure reminiscent of MgB2_2. Our Migdal-Eliashberg calculations suggest that the observation of superconductivity at low temperature should be possible for nn-doped graphene at carrier densities exceeding 101510^{15} cm2^{-2}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1407.7005,
  title  = {Two-gap superconductivity in heavily n-doped graphene: ab initio Migdal-Eliashberg theory},
  author = {E. R. Margine and Feliciano Giustino},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.7005},
  year   = {2015}
}