Semiconducting Transport in Pb<sub>10−</sub><i><sub>X</sub></i>Cu<i><sub>x</sub></i>(PO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>6</sub>O Sintered from Pb<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>5</sub> and Cu<sub>3</sub>P
Li Liu, Ziang Meng, Xiaoning Wang, Hongyu Chen, Zhiyuan Duan, Xiaorong Zhou, Han Yan, Peixin Qin, Zhiqi Liu
Abstract
Abstract The recent claim on the discovery of ambient‐pressure room‐temperature superconductivity in Cu‐doped lead‐apatite has attracted sensational attention. The intriguing compound has been fabricated by sintering lanarkite (Pb 2 SO 5 ) and copper(І) phosphide (Cu 3 P). To verify this exciting claim, Pb 2 SO 5 , Cu 3 P, and finally the modified lead‐apatite Pb 10− x Cu x (PO 4 ) 6 O have been successfully synthesized. Detailed electrical transport and magnetic properties of these compounds are systematically analyzed. It turns out that Pb 2 SO 5 is a highly insulating diamagnet and Cu 3 P is a paramagnetic metal. The obtained nominal Pb 10− x Cu x (PO 4 ) 6 O compound sintered from Pb 2 SO 5 and Cu 3 P exhibits semiconductor‐like transport behavior with a large room‐temperature resistivity of ≈1.94 × 10 4 Ω·cm, although the major phase of the compound shows consistent X‐ray diffraction spectrum with the previously reported structure data. In addition, when a Pb 10− x Cu x (PO 4 ) 6 O pellet pressed from uniformly ground powder is located on top of a commercial Nd 2 Fe 14 B magnet at room temperature, no repulsion can be felt and no magnetic levitation is observed either. The large difference in electrical and magnetic properties between the compounds and the previously reported compounds might be induced by distinct fine crystallographic structures, diverse multi‐phase distributions, and different concentrations of impurity phases such as Cu 2 S, all of which deserve further study.