Localized high-T_c superconductivity on the surface of Na-Doped WO₃

WO₃ crystals were doped with Na on the surface to ∼7% nominal atomic concentration. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy were employed, together with magnetization measurements, in the study of these crystals. Tunneling experiments reveal superconducting islands, 20-150 nm in size, covering about 10% of the surface, the rest of which is insulating. Magnetization measurements show that the superconducting phase formed at the surface has a critical temperature of 91 K, while tunneling spectroscopy yields superconducting gaps having values up to 2Δ/kT_c ∼ 4. Presumably most of the sodium is concentrated in these islands and therefore they are metallic in nature, above 30% in atomic concentration. This material is therefore a noncuprate superconductor with a high critical temperature.