Alkali-doped Fullerides: Narrow-band Solids With Unusual Properties

Alkali-doped fullerides have attracted strong interest since their production became possible about fifteen years ago. This book presents recent work which may solve intriguing problems arising from a variety of remarkable properties. For example, these solids are superconductors with high transition temperatures, although the similarity between the electronic and phonon energy scales should suppress superconductivity. Moreover, the Ioffe-Regel condition for electrical conductivity is strongly violated. The book shows why superconductivity is nevertheless possible, owing to a local pairing mechanism. The Ioffe-Regel condition is derived quantum-mechanically, and it is explained why the underlying assumptions are violated for fullerides and high-Tc cuprates, for example. The book treats electronic and transport properties, reviewing theoretical and experimental results. It focuses on superconductivity, electrical conductivity and metal-insulator transitions, emphasizing the electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions as well as the Jahn-Teller effect.