Vortex-glass behavior in superconducting K3C60 and Rb3C60

Abstract
The temperature and field dependence of the magnetic susceptibility of well-characterized K3 C60 and Rb3 C60 show that the zero-field-cooled (ZFC) diamagnetism below Tc is irreversible for both systems, while the field-cooled (FC) curve is reversible, and that the ZFC diamagnetism is more than four times larger than the FC. This behavior is attributed to a vortex-glass state below Tc, similar to that observed in high-Tc cuprates as well as disordered conventional type-II superconductors. The field dependence of the vortex glass to vortex fluid transition temperature T* is found to follow the de Almeida–Thouless relation H=H0[1-T*(H)/T*(0)]γ, where γ=3/2 for both compounds.