Two possible phases of superhard material BC3 originating from the cubic diamond structure are investigated by ab initio pseudopotential density functional method using generalized gradient approximation (GGA). We calculate their elastic constants, electronic band structure, and density of states (DOS). Full phonon frequencies, electron-phonon coupling constant and possible superconducting Tc of the metallic phase with tetragonal symmetry (t-BC3, space group P-42m) have for the first time been investigated at 5 and 10 GPa. The calculated electron-phonon coupling (0.67) and the logarithmically-averaged frequency (862 cm-1) show superconductivity for the undoped t-BC3 with Tc = 20 K at 5 GPa, which decreases to 17.5 K at 10 GPa.
Keywords: Superhard BC3, Band structure, Phonon spectra, Superconductivity PACS: 62.20.-x, 71.15.Mb, 74.10.+v, 74.20.Pq, 74.25.Kc
We report the discovery of superconductivity in boron-doped diamond synthesized at high pressure (8-9 GPa) and temperature (2,500-2,800 K). Electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, and field-dependent resistance measurements show that boron-doped diamond is a bulk, type-II superconductor below the superconducting transition temperature Tc=4 K; superconductivity survives in a magnetic field up to Hc2(0)=3.5 T. The discovery of superconductivity in diamond-structured carbon suggests that Si and Ge, which also form in the diamond structure, may similarly exhibit superconduc…
Using density functional theory calculations we show that the recently-synthesized, superhard diamond-like BC$_5$ is superconducting with a critical temperature of the same order than that of MgB$_2$. The average electron-phonon coupling is $λ=0.89$, the phonon-frequency logarithmic-average is $<ω>_{\log}=67.4 $ meV and the isotope coefficients are $α(C)=0.3$ and $α(B)=0.2$. In BC$_5$, superconductivity is mostly sustained by vibrations of the B atom and its C neighbors.
We substantiate by calculations that the recently discovered superconductivity below 4 K in 3% boron-doped diamond is caused by electron-phonon coupling of the same type as in MgB$_2$, albeit in 3 dimensions. Holes at the top of the zone-centered, degenerate $σ$-bonding valence band couple strongly to the optical bond-stretching modes. The increase from 2 to 3 dimensions reduces the mode-softening crucial for $T_{c}$ reaching 40 K in MgB$_{2}.$ Even if diamond had the same \emph{bare} coupling constant as MgB$_{2},$ which could be achieved with 10% doping, $T_{c}$ would only be 25 K. Supercond…
Superconductivity of boron-doped diamond, reported recently at T_c=4 K, is investigated exploiting its electronic and vibrational analogies to MgB2. The deformation potential of the hole states arising from the C-C bond stretch mode is 60% larger than the corresponding quantity in MgB2 that drives its high Tc, leading to very large electron-phonon matrix elements. The calculated coupling strength λ~ 0.5 leads to T_c in the 5-10 K range and makes phonon coupling the likely mechanism. Higher doping should increase T_c somewhat, but effects of three dimensionality primarily on the density of stat…
Using first principle electronic structure calculations we investigated the role of substitutional doping of B,N,P,Al and vacancies (${\cal V}$) in diamond (X$_α$C$_{1-α}$). In the heavy doping regime, at about $\sim 1-6%$ doping an impurity band appears in the mid gap. Increasing further the concentration of the impurity substitution fills in the gap of the diamond host. Our first principle calculation indicates that in the case of vacancies, a clear single-band picture can be employed to write down an effective {\em one band} microscopic Hamiltonian, which can be used to further study variou…
We investigate the possible occurrence of field-effect induced superconductivity in the hydrogenated $(111)$ diamond surface by first-principles calculations. By computing the band alignment between bulk diamond and the hydrogenated surface we show that the electric field exfoliates the sample, separating the electronic states at the valence band top from the bulk projected ones. At the hole doping values considered here, ranging from $n=2.84\times10^{13}$cm$^{-2}$ to $n=6\times 10^{14} $ cm$^{-2}$, the valence band top is composed of up to three electronic bands hosting holes with different e…
Radio-Frequency Gasket for Studies of Superconductivity in Diamond Anvil Cells
Center for High Pressure Science & Technology Advanced Research(高压科学前沿技术先进研究中心);Shanghai Key Laboratory of Material Frontiers Research in Extreme Environments (MFree)(极端环境下材料前沿研究上海市重点实验室(MFree));Shanghai Advanced Research in Physical Sciences (SHARPS)(上海物理科学先进研究中心(SHARPS))
Sulfur-doped SnSe single crystal was successfully synthesized using a melt and slow-cooling method. The chemical composition and valence state of the obtained sample were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The pressure range of a diamond anvil cell with boron-doped diamond electrodes was upgraded to 104 GPa using nano-polycrystalline diamond anvil to investigate a pressure effect for the sample. Electrical resistivity measurements of sulfur-doped SnSe single crystal showed the insulator-metal-superconductor transition by applying high pressure up to 75.9 GPa.
Scanning tunneling spectroscopies are performed below 100~mK on nano-crystalline boron-doped diamond films characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy and transport measurements. We demonstrate a strong correlation between the local superconductivity strength and the granular structure of the films. The study of the spectral shape, amplitude and temperature dependence of the superconductivity gap enables us to differentiate intrinsically superconducting grains that follow the BCS model, from grains showing a different behavior involving the superconducting proximity effect.
Diamond has always been adored as a jewel. Even more fascinating is its outstanding physical properties; it is the hardest material known in the world with the highest thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, when we turn to its electrical properties, diamond is a rather featureless electrical insulator. However, with boron doping, it becomes a p-type semiconductor, with boron acting as a charge acceptor. Therefore the recent news of superconductivity in heavily boron-doped diamond synthesized by high pressure sintering was received with considerable surprise. Opening up new possibilities for diamond-…
The superconductivity transition temperatures Tc(onset) of 11.4 K and Tc(offset) of 7.4 K, which are the highest in diamond at present, are realized on homoepitaxially grown (111) diamond films with a high boron doping concentration of 8.4E21 cm-3 (4.7 atomic percent). Tc values of (111) diamond films are more than twice as high as those of (100) films at the equivalent boron concentration. The Tc of boron-doped (111) diamond increases as the boron content increases up to the maximum incorporated concentration and is agrees with the value estimated using McMillan's equation. The advantageous T…
Doping effect of diamond nanoparticles on the superconducting properties of MgB2 bulk material has been studied. It is found that the superconducting transition temperature Tc of MgB2 is suppressed by the diamond-doping, however, the irreversibility field Hirr and the critical current density Jc are systematically enhanced. Microstructural analysis shows that the diamond-doped MgB2 superconductor consists of tightly-packed MgB2 nano-grains (~50-100 nm) with highly-dispersed and uniformly-distributed diamond nanoparticles (~10-20 nm) inside the grains. High density of dislocations and diamond n…
Superconductivity was discovered in heavily boron-doped diamond thin films deposited by the microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) method. Advantages of the MPCVD deposited diamond are the controllability of boron concentration in a wide range, and a high boron concentration, especially in (111) oriented films, compared to that of the high-pressure high-temperature method. The superconducting transition temperatures are determined to be 8.7K for Tc onset and 5.0K for zero resistance by transport measurements. And the upper critical field is estimated to be around 7T.
We present an {\it ab initio} study of the recently discovered superconductivity of boron doped diamond within the framework of a phonon-mediated pairing mechanism. The role of the dopant, in substitutional position, is unconventional in that half of the coupling parameter $λ$ originates in strongly localized defect-related vibrational modes, yielding a very peaked Eliashberg $α^2F(ω)$ function. The electron-phonon coupling potential is found to be extremely large and T$_C$ is limited by the low value of the density of states at the Fermi level.
Simultaneous high pressure x-ray diffraction and electrical resistance measurements have been carried out on a PbO type α-FeSe0.92 compound to a pressure of 44 GPa and temperatures down to 4 K using designer diamond anvils at synchrotron source. At ambient temperature, a structural phase transition from a tetragonal (P4/nmm) phase to an orthorhombic (Pbnm) phase is observed at 11 GPa and the Pbnm phase persists up to 74 GPa. The superconducting transition temperature (TC) increases rapidly with pressure reaching a maximum of ~28 K at ~ 6 GPa and decreases at higher pressures, disappearing comp…
We consider superconductivity in boron (B) doped diamond using a simplified model for the valence band of diamond. We treat the effects of substitutional disorder of B ions by the coherent potential approximation (CPA) and those of the attractive force between holes by the ladder approximation under the assumption of instantaneous interaction with the Debye cutoff. We thereby calculate the quasiparticle life time, the evolution of the single-particle spectra due to doping, and the effect of disorder on the superconducting critical temperature $T_c$. We in particular compare our results with th…
Magnetic imaging using color centers in diamond through both scanning and wide-field methods offers a combination of unique capabilities for studying superconductivity, for example, enabling accurate vector magnetometry at high temperature or high pressure, with spatial resolution down to the nanometer scale. The paper briefly reviews various experimental modalities in this rapidly developing nascent field and provides an outlook towards possible future directions.
We have investigated the superconductivity discovered in boron (B)-doped diamonds by means of 11B-NMR on heteroepitaxially grown (111) and (100) films. 11B-NMR spectra for all of the films are identified to arise from the substitutional B(1) site as single occupation and lower symmetric B(2) site substituted as boron+hydrogen(B+H) complex, respectively. A clear evidence is presented that the effective carriers introduced by B(1) substitution are responsible for the superconductivity, whereas the charge neutral B(2) sites does not offer the carriers effectively. The result is also corroborated …
Superconductivity in an uncompensated boron doped diamond, a very recent observation, is strikingly close to an earlier observation of Anderson-Mott insulator to metal transition, prompting us to suggest an electron correlation driven superconductivity in an impurity band. Random coulomb potential remove a three fold orbital degeneracy of boron acceptor states, resulting in an effective single, narrow, tight binding and half filled band of holes. Singlet coupling between spins of neighboring neutral acceptors $B^0-B^0$ is the seed of pairing. Across the insulator to metal transition, a small a…
To explore whether a flat-band system can accommodate superconductivity, we consider repulsively interacting fermions on the diamond chain, a simplest quasi-one-dimensional system that contains a flat band. Exact diagonalization and the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) are used to show that we have a significant binding energy of a Cooper pair with a long-tailed pair-pair correlation in real space when the total band filling is slightly below $1/3$, where the dispersive band interacts with the flat band that is empty but close to $E_F$. Pairs selectively formed across the outer site…
In a recent X-ray absorption study in boron doped diamond, Nakamura et al. have seen a well isolated narrow boron impurity band in non-superconducting samples and an additional narrow band at the chemical potential in a superconducting sample. We interpret the beautiful spectra as evidence for upper Hubbard band of a Mott insulating impurity band and an additional metallic `mid-gap band' of a conducting `self-doped' Mott insulator. This supports the basic framework of a recent theory of the present author of strongly correlated impurity band superconductivity (SCIBS) in a template of a wide-ga…
We perform single- and multi-band Migdal-Eliashberg (ME) calculations with parameters exctracted from density functional theory (DFT) simulations to study superconductivity in the electric-field-induced 2-dimensional hole gas at the hydrogenated (111) diamond surface. We show that according to the Eliashberg theory it is possible to induce a high-T$_{\text{c}}$ superconducting phase when the system is field-effect doped to a surface hole concentration of $6\times10^{14}\,$cm$^{-2}$, where the Fermi level crosses three valence bands. Starting from the band-resolved electron-phonon spectral func…
Tin sulfide (SnS) was successfully synthesized in single crystals by a melt and slow-cooling method. The obtained sample was characterized by an X-ray diffraction, an energy dispersive spectrometry, and an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Electrical transport properties in SnS were investigated under high pressure using a diamond anvil cell with boron-doped metallic diamond electrodes and undoped diamond insulating layer. We successfully observed an insulator to metal transition from 12.5 GPa and pressure-induced superconductivity at 5.8 K under 47.8 GPa as predicted by a theoretical calculat…
Among the many remarkable properties of diamond, the ability to superconduct when heavily doped with boron has attracted much interest in the carbon community. When considering the nanocrystalline boron doped system, the reduced dimensionality and confinement effects have led to several intriguing observations most notably, signatures of a mixed superconducting phase. Here we present ultra-high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging of the grain boundary and demonstrate how the complex microstructure leads to enhanced carrier correlations. We observe hallmark features of spin-orbi…
Homoepitaxial diamond layers doped with boron in the 10^20-10^21 /cm3 range are shown to be type II superconductors with sharp transitions (~0.2K) at temperatures increasing from 0 to 2.1 K with boron contents. The critical concentration for the onset of superconductivity is about 5-7 10^20 /cm3, close to the metal-insulator transition. The H-T phase diagram has been obtained from transport and a.c. susceptibility measurements down to 300mK. These results bring new quantitative constraints on the theoretical models proposed for superconductivity in diamond.
Layered transition-metal chalcogenides (Zr,Hf)GeTe$_{4}$ were screened out from database of Atomwork as a candidate for pressure-induced superconductivity due to their narrow band gap and high density of state near the Fermi level. The (Zr,Hf)GeTe$_{4}$ samples were synthesized in single crystal and then the compositional ratio, crystal structures, and valence states were investigated via energy dispersive spectrometry, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The pressure-induced superconductivity in both crystals were first time reported by using …
Diamond, a wide band-gap semiconductor, can be engineered to exhibit superconductivity when doped heavily with boron. The phenomena has been demonstrated in samples grown by chemical vapour deposition where the boron concentration exceeds the critical concentration for the metal-to-insulator transition of $n_{MIT} \gtrsim 4\times10^{20}/\text{cm}^3$. While the threshold carrier concentration for superconductivity is generally well established in the literature, it is unclear how well correlated higher critical temperatures are with increased boron concentration. Previous studies have generally…
Superconducting transport properties of granular materials are greatly influenced by the microstructure. We show that in heavily boron-doped diamond films (HBDDF) films some sharp transport features can be manipulated by applying a magnetic field and controlled finite bias current. We demonstrate the conductivity cross-over from dirty metal to the superconducting state through an insulating peak arising at a very low current or magnetic field region and particularly pronounced negative magnetoresistance with periodic oscillatory features. The current-voltage characteristics show features of th…
We review recent advances in diamond anvil cell development, focusing on the details of magnetic susceptibility techniques. We have developed and implemented highly sensitive technique that allowed observations of superconductivity using magnetic susceptibility at megabar pressures, including the observation of a Tc in sulfur to above 230 GPa. The advancement of the technique should enable the most demanding diamond anvil cell applications. The Tc(P) data for simple s-p metals (Se,S, MgB_2) are presented and analyzed. The possibility for a phonon-assisted electronic topological transition (ETT…
We report the ac magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistance, and X-ray diffraction measurements of platinum hydride (PtHx) in diamond anvil cells, which reveal its superconducting transition. At 32 GPa, when PtHx is in a P63/mmc structure, PtHx exhibits superconducting transition at 6.7 K and superconducting transition temperature (Tc) decreases with pressure to 4.8 K at 36 GPa. The observed T c is higher than that of powdered Pt by more than three orders of magnitude. It is suggested that hydrides of noble metals have higher Tc than the elements.
Motivated by the discovery of superconductivity in boron-doped (B-doped) diamond, we investigate the localization and superconductivity in heavily doped semiconductors. The competition between Anderson localization and s-wave superconductivity is investigated from the microscopic point of view. The effect of microscopic inhomogeneity and the thermal fluctuation in superconductivity are taken into account using the self-consistent 1-loop-order theory with respect to superconducting fluctuation. The crossover from superconductivity in the host band to that in the impurity band is described on th…
The computational and experimental exploration of the phase diagrams of binary hydrides under high pressure has uncovered phases with novel stoichiometries and structures, some which are superconducting at quite high temperatures. Herein we review the plethora of studies that have been undertaken in the last decade on the main group and transition metal hydrides, as well as a few of the rare earth hydrides at pressures attainable in diamond anvil cells. The aggregate of data shows that the propensity for superconductivity is dependent upon the species used to "dope" hydrogen, with some of the …
Polycrystalline samples of layered pnictogen diselenide NdO0.8F0.2Sb1-xBixSe2 (x = 0 to 0.8) were successfully synthesized by solid-state reactions. Electrical resistivity in the synthesized samples was systematically decreased with an increase in Bi content x. Crystal structure analysis using synchrotron X-ray diffraction suggests that insulator to metal transition upon Bi doping correlates with anomalous change in c-axis length and/or corrugation in conducting layer. The emergence of superconductivity under high pressure is demonstrated using diamond anvil cell (DAC) with boron-doped diamond…
Boron-based clathrate materials, typically with three-dimensional networks of B atoms, have tunable properties through substitution of guest atoms, but the tuning of B cages themselves has not yet been developed. By combining crystal structural search with the laser-heated diamond anvil cell technique, we successfully synthesized a new B-based clathrate boride, LaB8, at ~108 GPa and ~2100 K. The novel structure has a B-richest cage, with 26 B atoms encapsulating a single La atom. LaB8 demonstrates phonon-mediated superconductivity with an estimated transition temperature of 14 K at ambient pre…
The combination of different exotic properties in materials paves the way for the emergence of their new potential applications. An example is the recently found coexistence of the mutually antagonistic ferromagnetism and superconductivity in hydrogenated boron-doped diamond, which promises to be an attractive system with which to explore unconventional physics. Here, we show the emergence of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) bands with a spatial extent of tens of nanometers in ferromagnetic superconducting diamond using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. We demonstrate theoretically how a two-dimensional …
The magnetic field dependence of the superconductivity in nanocrystalline boron doped diamond thin films is reported. Evidence of a glass state in the phase diagram is presented, as demonstrated by electrical resistance and magnetic relaxation measurements. The position of the phase boundary in the H-T plane is determined from resistance data by detailed fitting to zero-dimensional fluctuation conductivity theory. This allows determination of the boundary between resistive and non-resistive behavior to be made with greater precision than the standard ad hoc onset/midpoint/offset criterion.
Pressure can tune material's electronic properties and control its quantum state, making some systems present disconnected superconducting region as observed in iron chalcogenides and heavy fermion CeCu2Si2. For CaC6 superconductor (Tc of 11.5 K), applying pressure first Tc increases and then suppresses and the superconductivity of this compound is eventually disappeared at about 18 GPa. Here, we report a theoretical finding of the re-emergence of superconductivity in heavily compressed CaC6. The predicted phase III (space group Pmmn) with formation of carbon nanofoam is found to be stable at …
We have studied the structural and superconductivity properties of the compound LaFeAsO0.9F0.1 under pressures up to 32GPa using synchrotron radiation and diamond anvil cells. We obtain an ambient pressure bulk modulus K_0 = 78(2)GPa, compressibility comparable to some cuprates. At high pressures, the sample is in the overdoped region, with a linear decrease with pressure variation of the superconducting transition temperature.
The crystal structure and electrical resistivity of YBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$ (Y124) were studied under high pressure up to 18 GPa using diamond-anvil cells, respectively, in order to clarify its conduction mechanism. Y124 causes the first-order phase-transition into the orthorhombic Immm at pressure around 11 GPa. The high-pressure phase (HPP) also shows the superconductivity, while the manner of temperature dependence of electrical resistance and the pressure dependence of transition temperature, Tc, drastically change above 11 GPa. The CuO$_2$ plane persists in HPP but the CuO double chains collap…
Using a diamond anvil cell with nearly hydrostatic helium pressure medium we have significantly extended the superconducting phase diagram Tc(P) of Sc, the lightest of all transition metals. We find that superconductivity is induced in Sc under pressure, Tc increasing monotonically to 8.2 K at 74.2 GPa. The Tc(P) dependences of the trivalent d-electron metals Sc, Y, La, and Lu are compared and discussed within a simple s-d charge transfer framework.
We study within a first-principle approach the band structure, vibrational modes and electron-phonon coupling in boron, aluminum and phosphorus doped silicon in the diamond phase. Our results provide evidences that the recently discovered superconducting transition in boron doped cubic silicon can be explained within a standard phonon-mediated mechanism. The importance of lattice compression and dopant related stretching modes are emphasized. We find that T$_C$ can be increased by one order of magnitude by adopting aluminum doping instead of boron.
We have investigated the low energy electronic state of a boron-doped diamond thin film by the ultrahigh resolution laser-excited photoemission spectroscopy. We observed a clear shift of the leading edge below 11 K indicative of a superconducting gap opening ($Δ\sim 0.78$ meV at 4.5 K). The gap feature is significantly broad and the well-defined quasiparticle peak is not recognizable even at the lowest temperature of measurement 4.5 K. We discuss our result in terms of possible disorder effect on superconductivity in this system.
High-pressure electrical resistance measurements have been performed on single crystal Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe2As2 platelets to pressures of 16 GPa and temperatures down to 10 K using designer diamond anvils under quasi-hydrostatic conditions with an insulating steatite pressure medium. The resistance measurements show evidence of pressure-induced superconductivity with an onset transition temperature at ~31 K and zero resistance at ~22 K for a pressure of 3.3 GPa. The transition temperature decreases gradually with increasing in pressure before completely disappearing for pressures above 12 GPa. The pre…
We have studied the structural and superconducting properties of tetragonal FeSe under pressures up to 26GPa using synchrotron radiation and diamond anvil cells. The bulk modulus of the tetragonal phase is 28.5(3)GPa, much smaller than the rest of Fe based superconductors. At 12GPa we observe a phase transition from the tetragonal to an orthorhombic symmetry. The high pressure orthorhombic phase has a higher Tc reaching 34K at 22GPa.
The dependence of the superconducting transition temperature Tc of CaC6 has been determined as a function of hydrostatic pressure in both helium-loaded gas and diamond-anvil cells to 0.6 and 32 GPa, respectively. Following an initial increase at the rate +0.39(1) K/GPa, Tc drops abruptly from 15 K to 4 K at 10 GPa. Synchrotron x-ray measurements to 15 GPa point to a structural transition near 10 GPa from a rhombohedral to a higher symmetry phase.
While unusual normal state properties, such as non-Fermi liquid behavior of the resistivity, are commonly associated with strong quantum fluctuations, evidence for its presence inside the superconducting dome are much scarcer. In this paper, we use sensitive and minimally invasive optical magnetometry based on NV-centers in diamond to probe the doping evolution of the $T=0$ penetration depth in the electron-doped iron-based superconductor Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$. A non-monotonic evolution with a pronounced peak in the vicinity of the putative magnetic QPT is found. This behavior is remi…
We study superconductivity in Boron using first-principles LAPW calculations, the rigid-muffin-tin approximation and the McMillan theory. Our results point to an electron-phonon mechanism producing transition temperatures near 10K at high pressures in agreement with recent measurements.
We report high-pressure induced superconductivity in boron nanowires (BNWs) with rhombohedral crystal structure. Obviously different from bulk rhombohedral boron, these BNWs show a semiconductor-metal transition at much lower pressure than bulk boron. Also, we found these BNWs become superconductors with Tc=1.5 K at 84 GPa, at the pressure of which bulk boron is still a semiconductor, via in-situ resistance measurements in a diamond anvil cell. With increasing pressure, Tc of the BNWs increases. The occurrence of superconductivity in the BNWs at a pressure as low as 84 GPa probably arises from…
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the main principles of superconductivity as a phenomenon, valid for every superconductor independently of its characteristic properties and material. The underlying mechanisms of superconductivity can be different for various materials, but certain principles must be satisfied. The chapter introduces four principles of superconductivity. (The chapter is slightly nodified from the original one in order to be self-contained.)
We have applied the model-mapped RPA [H. Sakakibara et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 86, 044714 (2017)] to the cuprate superconductors La2CuO4 and HgBa2CuO4, resulting two-orbital Hubbard models. All the model parameters are determined based on first-principles calculations. For the model Hamiltonians, we perform fluctuation exchange calculation. Results explain relative height of Tc observed in experiment for La2CuO4 and HgBa2CuO4. In addition, we give some analyses for the interaction terms in the model, especially comparisons with those of the constrained RPA.
In our previously published work, we have reported colossal magnetoresistance, Andreev oscillations, ferromagnetism, and granular superconductivity in oxygen-implanted carbon fibers, graphite foils, and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. In this follow-up research, more results on these oxygen-implanted graphite samples are presented. We show results from transport measurements on oxygen-implanted diamond-like carbon thin coatings, amorphous carbon films, and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. Significantly, a three-order magnitude drop in the electrical resistance of the oxygen-implanted di…