Superconductivity and Phase Stability of Potassium-Intercalated p-Quaterphenyl

To explore more novel superconductors, we have synthesized the potassium-doped p-quaterphenyl by an annealing or just a pestling process. The Meissner effect with critical temperatures ranging from 3.5 to 120 K is found by the magnetic susceptibility measurements in doped samples. The primary superconducting phase with a critical temperature of 7.2 K can be duplicated in the annealed and pestled samples. The charge transfer from metal to molecule is confirmed from the Raman scattering measurements. The X-ray diffraction analysis suggests that the low-temperature superconducting phase is due to the two-electron doping, whereas the high-temperature one corresponds to the high doping content. The occurrence of superconductivity in potassium-doped p-quaterphenyl supports the chain link organic molecules as promising candidates for high-temperature superconductors. This work also provides a simple method for synthesizing organic superconductors by pestling without annealing.