DOPED FULLERENES - A SOOT TO SUPERCONDUCTIVITY STORY

The unpretentious origins in pure carbon soot of the highly symmetric C60 molecule and the ease in which pure C60 solids can be intercalated with alkali metals provide the essential motivation behind much of the current research activity on superconductivity in the doped fullerenes. In this paper the salient experimental phenomenology of these new superconductors is briefly reviewed and placed into context with respect to what is known about other classes of superconductors. Although the 'soot to superconductivity' story has had an auspicious beginning, a conclusion to the story is not yet in sight and additional experimental results and theoretical analyses are needed.