Boron isotope effect in superconducting MgB2

Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Feb 26;86(9):1877-80. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.1877.

Abstract

We report the preparation method of and boron isotope effect for MgB2, a new binary intermetallic superconductor with a remarkably high superconducting transition temperature T(c)(10B) = 40.2 K. Measurements of both temperature dependent magnetization and specific heat reveal a 1.0 K shift in T(c) between Mg11B2 and Mg10B2. Whereas such a high transition temperature might imply exotic coupling mechanisms, the boron isotope effect in MgB2 is consistent with the material being a phonon-mediated BCS superconductor.