Metal-to-insulator transition and superconductivity in boron-doped diamond

Abstract

The experimental discovery of superconductivity in boron-doped diamond came as a major surprise to both the diamond and the superconducting materials communities. The main experimental results obtained since then on single-crystal diamond epilayers are reviewed and applied to calculations, and some open questions are identified. The critical doping of the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) was found to coincide with that necessary for superconductivity to occur. Some of the critical exponents of the MIT were determined and superconducting diamond was found to follow a conventional type II behaviour in the dirty limit, with relatively high critical temperature values quite close to the doping-induced insulator-to-metal transition. This could indicate that on the metallic side both the electron–phonon coupling and the screening parameter depend on the boron concentration. In our view, doped diamond is a potential model system for the study of electronic phase transitions and a stimulating example for other semiconductors such as germanium and silicon.