Ambient‐Pressure Superconductivity Onset at 10 K and Robust <i>T</i> <sub>c</sub> under High Pressure in TiNbTaN <sub>3</sub> Medium‐Entropy Nitride
Superconductivity has been one of the focal points in medium- and high-entropy alloys (MEAs-HEAs) since the first discovery of the HEA superconductor in 2014. Until now, most HEAs' superconducting transition temperature (T<sub>c</sub>) has not exceeded 10 K. Here, the first observation of superconductivity in a bulk medium-entropy nitride (MEN), TiNbTaN<sub>3</sub>, which shows a T<sub>c</sub> of 10 K at ambient pressure, is reported. Notably, the electronic specific heat coefficient γ(H) exhibits nonlinear H-dependence behavior, which is similar to other well-studied multigap superconductors. Furthermore, TiNbTaN₃ exhibits extraordinary pressure resilience, maintaining robust superconductivity under high-pressure conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that pressure exerts a negligible impact on the electronic structures of TiNbTaN<sub>3</sub>, thereby corroborating the experimental observations. These findings not only advance the understanding of emergent phenomena in entropy-stabilized nitrides but also establish a new material platform for finding more high-T<sub>c</sub> superconductors with combinations of 4d/5d transition metal elements and light elements, motivating further investigations into high-entropy functional ceramics for extreme environment applications.
Authors
- Jing Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8586-6476)
- Yusheng Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7869-4741)
- Hongyu Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2930-3510)
- Longfu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1685-7546)
- Huixia Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2703-5660)
- J. Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7424-8371)
- Yucheng Li
- Rui Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6488-6133)
- Jie Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0595-6445)
- Lingyong Zeng
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Institute of Physics (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technology
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Science
- Published
- 2025-06-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202506089
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Metal and Thin Film Mechanics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.86
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Sun Yat-sen University
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province