Electron-Phonon Interactions in SolidC36

Among the experimentally observed structures of molecular ${\mathrm{C}}_{36}$, our calculations show that the structure with $D_{6h}$ symmetry is one of the two most energetically favorable. Based on this result and the fact that $D_{6h}$ is conducive to forming a periodic system, we propose a new solid phase of carbon using ${\mathrm{C}}_{36}$ fullerenes as a basis. Full structural relaxations and electronic density of states are evaluated using an ab initio pseudopotential plane wave method within the local density approximation. The calculated electron-phonon interaction potential is found to be substantially enhanced compared to ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$, leading to the possibility of larger superconducting transition temperatures than in alkali-doped ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ solids.