Road to room-temperature superconductivity: A universal model

Abstract

In a semiclassical view superconductivity is attributed exclusively to the advance of atoms' outer s electrons through the nuclei of neighbor atoms in a solid. The necessary progression of holes in the opposite direction has the electric and magnetic effect as if two electrons were advancing instead of each actual one. Superconductivity ceases when the associated lateral oscillation of the outer s electrons extends between neighbor atoms. If such overswing occurs already at T = 0, then the material is a normal conductor. Otherwise, lateral overswing can be caused by lattice vibrations at a critical temperature Tc or by a critical magnetic field Bc. Lateral electron oscillations are reduced - and Tc is increased - when the atoms of the outer s electrons are squeezed, be it in the bulk crystal, in a thin film, or under external pressure on the sample. The model is applied to alkali metals and alkali-doped fullerenes. Aluminum serves as an example of a simple metal with superconductivity. Application of the model to transition metals, intertransitional alloys and compounds of transition metals with other elements sheds light on the pattern of their critical temperature. More examples of the squeeze effect are provided by the superconductivity of PdH, MgB2, borocarbides, ferropnictides, and organic charge-transfer salts. The model also provides the superconduction mechanism in the oxide superconductors, exemplified by YBa2Cu3O7. Finally the model suggests which steps to take in order to reach superconductivity at room temperature and above.