Electron - Phonon Interactions in Solid C

Among the experimentally observed structures of molecular C36, our calculations show that the structure with D6h symmetry is one of the two most energetically favorable. Based on this result and the fact that D6h is conducive to forming a periodic system, we propose a new solid phase of carbon using C36 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 C60, leading to the possibility of larger superconducting transition temperatures than in alkali-doped C60 solids. [S0031-9007(98)06606-X]