2018/08/06 by G. Baskaran, Baskaran, Ganapathy
Physics and Astronomy · #81V70 #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) #Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con) #Surface and Thin Film Phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1808.02005
openalex publication_date 2018/08/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Monovalent non-transition metals are robust Fermi liquids. They defy superconductivity even at lowest temperatures (Li is a minor exception:Tc ≈ 0.4 mK). However, Thapa and Pandey \citeThapaPandey have recently reported signals for ambient temperature granular superconductivity in Ag nanoparticle embedded in Au matrix. We develop a theory, where competing superconducing, CDW and SDW orders lose and get confined (go off-shell). They leave behind a robust Fermi liquid on-shell. A single half filled band crossing the Fermi level provides a number of special k-space regions for singlet stabilizing umklapp pair scattering and superconductivity stabilizing repulsive pair scattering. Carefully designed perturbations could deconfine a confined superconductivity. We suggest that electron transfer (doping) from Ag nanoparticles to Au matrix (with a higher electronegativity), quasi 2d structural reconstructions (e.g., 9R structure) at Ag-Au interfaces etc., bring out confined superconductivity. Beneath a calm Fermi sea, strong supercurrents may exist in several metals.