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New Materials That Surprised with Their Superconductivity

8. 1. 2025 | 972 visits

High-entropy materials are exceptionally hard and resistant to corrosion and high temperatures, which makes them ideal for applications under extreme conditions. Researchers at the Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) in Košice, in collaboration with colleagues from Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria, successfully prepared high-entropy alloys in the form of thin films.

"The excellent mechanical properties of these alloys are commonly used to modify the surfaces of cutting tools and other surfaces requiring high hardness and corrosion resistance. Our research revealed that these materials also exhibit superconductivity, which was quite surprising given their significant internal disorder," said Gabriel Pristáš from the Institute of Experimental Physics, SAS

The experimental physicists from SAV, along with their Austrian colleagues, managed to significantly enhance the superconducting properties of thin films through nitrogen doping, increasing the transition temperature to the superconducting state by a factor of eight. This phenomenon was observed only because they meticulously increased nitrogen doping and identified the optimal concentration for maximizing the transition temperature.

"The usual method of doping with nitrogen to maximum concentration in the case of high-entropy alloys does not necessarily result in the maximum enhancement of the transition temperature. As a result, significant improvements in superconducting properties might easily be overlooked. Using several unique experimental techniques well-established at our institute, we not only discovered this phenomenon but also explained the physical basis for the improvement in superconducting properties," added the experimental physicist.

The discovery by researchers in Košice opens up the possibility of applying this method to high-entropy alloys with different compositions. Potential applications of these materials include electrodes for supercapacitors, components for quantum devices, and their current use in constructing single-photon detectors.

Findings Published In:

[1] G. Pristáš, J. Bačkai, M. Orendáč, S. Gabáni, F. Košuth, M. Kuzmiak, P. Szabó, E. Gažo, R. Franz, S. Hirn, G. C. Gruber, C. Mitterer, S. Vorobiov, K. Flachbart: “Superconductivity in medium- and high-entropy alloy thin films: impact of thickness and external pressure”, Physical Review B 107 (2023), 024505.

[2] Gabriel Pristáš, Georg C. Gruber, Matúš Orendáč, Július Bačkai, Jozef Kačmarčík, Filip Košuth, Slavomír Gabáni, Pavol Szabó, Christian Mitterer, Karol Flachbart: “Multiple transitiion temperature enhancement in superconducting TiNbMoTaW high entropy alloy films through tailored N incorporation”, Acta Materialia 262 (2024) 119428

 

Source and Contact Person: Gabriel Pristáš, 0908 689 287, email: gabriel.pristas@saske.sk

Edited by Monika Tináková

Foto: canva.com

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