Access by Xinjiang University

Phase selection and superconductivity in compositionally similar high-entropy alloys

Weihao Tan¹, Bin Liu ^1,*, Jinglong Wu¹, Yulong Zhao¹, Taofei Guo¹, Lan Yu¹, and Zhi Ren^2,†

¹Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650000, People's Republic of China
²Forte Shangcheng, Wenyi West Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311121, People's Republic of China

^*Contact author: bliu0201@foxmail.com
^†Contact author: renzhimat@foxmail.com

Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 114801 – Published 2 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nd6f-f7rt

Abstract

We report a comparative study on the crystal structure and physical properties of two high-entropy alloys (HEAs), ${Hf}_{10} {Mo}_{25} W_{10} {Re}_{35} {Ru}_{20}$ and ${Ta}_{10} {Mo}_{25} W_{10} {Re}_{35} {Ru}_{20}$ . Despite a 10% difference in chemical composition, the former crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric cubic $α − Mn$ structure while the latter adopts the centrosymmetric tetragonal $σ$ -type structure. For both HEAs, bulk superconductivity is discovered and their specific heat jumps can be well described by a modified BCS model, consistent with a fully gapped state. In the normal state, the resistivity exhibits a temperature-independent or weakly insulating behavior, consistent with the presence of strong disorder scattering. Through comparison with isostructural HEA superconductors, we show that the selection between the $α$ -Mn and $σ$ -type phases correlates with the valence electron concentration of HEAs and atomic size difference of constituent elements.

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (35)

J.-W. Yeh, S.-K. Chen, S.-J. Lin, J.-Y. Gan, T.-S. Chin, T.-T. Shun, C.-H. Tsau, and S.-Y. Chang, Nanostructured high-entropy alloys with multiple principal elements: Novel alloy design concepts and outcomes, Adv. Eng. Mater. 6, 299 (2004).
Y. Zhang, Y. J. Zhou, J. P. Lin, G. L. Chen, and P. K. Liaw, Solid-solution phase formation rules for multi-component alloys, Adv. Eng. Mater. 10, 534 (2008).
Y. F. Ye, Q. Wang, J. Lu, C. T. Liu, and Y. Yang, High-entropy alloy: Challenges and prospects, Mater. Today 19, 349 (2016).
D. B. Miracle and O. N. Senkov, A critical review of high entropy alloys and related concepts, Acta Mater. 122, 448 (2017).
W. Zhang, P. K. Liaw, and Y. Zhang, Science and technology in high-entropy alloys, Sci. China Mater. 61, 2 (2018).
O. N. Senkov, S. V. Senkova, and C. Woodward, Effect of aluminum on the microstructure and properties of two refractory high-entropy alloys, Acta Mater. 68, 214 (2014).
C. Sha, Z. Zhou, Z. Xie, and P. Munroe, Extremely hard, $α$ -Mn type high entropy alloy coatings, Scr. Mater. 178, 477 (2020).
Y. Shi, B. Yang, X. Xie, J. Brechtl, K. A. Dahmen, and P. K. Liaw, Corrosion of ${Al}_{x} CoCrFeNi$ high-entropy alloys: Al-content and potential scan-rate dependent pitting behavior, Corros. Sci. 119, 33 (2017).
Y.-J. Hsu, W.-C. Chiang, and J.-K. Wu, Corrosion behavior of ${FeCoNiCrCu}_{x}$ high-entropy alloys in 3.5% sodium chloride solution, Mater. Chem. Phys. 92, 112 (2005).
P. Koželj, S. Vrtnik, A. Jelen, S. Jazbec, Z. Jagličić, S. Maiti, M. Feuerbacher, W. Steurer, and J. Dolinšek, Discovery of a superconducting high-entropy alloy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 107001 (2014).
L. Sun and R. J. Cava, High-entropy alloy superconductors: Status, opportunities, and challenges, Phys. Rev. Mater. 3, 090301 (2019).
J. Kitagawa, S. Hamamoto, and N. Ishizu, Cutting edge of high-entropy alloy superconductors from the perspective of materials research, Metals 10, 1078 (2020).
L. Zeng, L. Li, K. Li, R. Chen, and H. Luo, Recent advances in high-entropy superconductors, NPG Asia Mater. 16, 60 (2024).
F. Von Rohr, M. J. Winiarski, J. Tao, T. Klimczuk, and R. J. Cava, Effect of electron count and chemical complexity in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, (2016).
W. L. Nelson, A. T. Chemey, M. Hertz, E. Choi, D. E. Graf, S. Latturner, T. E. Albrecht-Schmitt, K. Wei, and R. E. Baumbach, Superconductivity in a uranium containing high entropy alloy, Sci. Rep. 10, 4717 (2020).
D. Strong and R. J. Cava, Superconductivity in the face-centered cubic W-M-Rh-Ir-Pt $M = {Mo$ , Nb, Ta, $Re}$ high-entropy alloy, J. Mater. Sci. 59, 10347 (2024).
Y.-S. Lee and R. J. Cava, Superconductivity in high and medium entropy alloys based on MoReRu, Physica C 566, 1353520 (2019).
S. Marik, K. Motla, M. Varghese, K. P. Sajilesh, D. Singh, Y. Breard, P. Boullay, and R. P. Singh, Superconductivity in a new hexagonal high-entropy alloy, Phys. Rev. Mater. 3, 060602 (2019).
B. Liu, J. Wu, Y. Cui, Q. Zhu, G. Xiao, S. Wu, G. Cao, and Z. Ren, Superconductivity in hexagonal Nb-Mo-Ru-Rh-Pd high-entropy alloys, Scr. Mater. 182, 109 (2020).
K. Stolze, F. A. Cevallos, T. Kong, and R. J. Cava, High-entropy alloy superconductors on an $α$ -Mn lattice, J. Mater. Chem. C 6, 10441 (2018).
B. Liu, J. Wu, Y. Cui, Q. Zhu, G. Xiao, S. Wu, G.-H. Cao, and Z. Ren, Structural evolution and superconductivity tuned by valence electron concentration in the Nb-Mo-Re-Ru-Rh high-entropy alloys, J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 85, 11 (2021).
K. Motla, Arushi, S. Jangid, P. K. Meena, R. K. Kushwaha, and R. P. Singh, Superconducting properties of new hexagonal and noncentrosymmetric cubic high entropy alloys, Supercond. Sci. Technol. 36, 115024 (2023).
K. Li, L. Li, L. Zeng, Y. Li, R. Chen, P. Yu, K. Wang, Z. Xiang, T. Shang, and H. Luo, Superconductivity in the medium-entropy/high-entropy Re-based alloys with a non-centrosymmetric $α$ -Mn lattice, Supercond. Sci. Technol. 38, 055010 (2025).
M. Krishnan, J. Meng, B.-Z. Li, Y. Ma, C. Wang, D. Bhoi, Y. Uwatoko, Q. Jing, and B. Liu, Evolution of structural dependent superconducting properties on Re-Os-W-Mo-Ta high entropy alloys, Supercond. Sci. Technol. 38, 075014 (2025).
B. Liu, J. Wu, Y. Cui, Q. Zhu, G. Xiao, H. Wang, S. Wu, G. Cao, and Z. Ren, Formation and superconductivity of single-phase high-entropy alloys with a tetragonal structure, ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 2, 1130 (2020).
X. Xu, W. Yang, H. Song, J. Wang, L. Yu, Z. Ren, and B. Liu, Structural sequence and superconductivity in high-entropy Mo-W-Re-Ru-Pd alloys, Scr. Mater. 243, 115986 (2024).
V. Petříček, M. Dušek, and L. Palatinus, Crystallographic computing system JANA2006: General features, Z. Kristallogr. Cryst. Mater. 229, 345 (2014).
W. L. McMillan, Transition temperature of strong-coupled superconductors, Phys. Rev. 167, 331 (1968).
D. C. Johnston, Elaboration of the $α$ -model derived from the BCS theory of superconductivity, Supercond. Sci. Technol. 26, 115011 (2013).
K. Stolze, J. Tao, F. O. von Rohr, T. Kong, and R. J. Cava, Sc–Zr–Nb–Rh–Pd and Sc–Zr–Nb–Ta–Rh–Pd high-entropy alloy superconductors on a CsCl-type lattice, Chem. Mater. 30, 906 (2018).
G. Kim, M. H. Lee, J. H. Yun, P. Rawat, S.-G. Jung, W. Choi, T.-S. You, S. J. Kim, and J.-S. Rhyee, Strongly correlated and strongly coupled s-wave superconductivity of the high entropy alloy ${Ta}_{1 / 6} {Nb}_{2 / 6} {Hf}_{1 / 6} {Zr}_{1 / 6} {Ti}_{1 / 6}$ compound, Acta Mater. 186, 250 (2020).
S. Guo, C. Ng, J. Lu, and C. T. Liu, Effect of valence electron concentration on stability of fcc or bcc phase in high entropy alloys, J. Appl. Phys. 109, 103505 (2011).
S. Fang, X. Xiao, L. Xia, W. Li, and Y. Dong, Relationship between the widths of supercooled liquid regions and bond parameters of Mg-based bulk metallic glasses, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 321, 120 (2003).
F. von Rohr and R. J. Cava, Isoelectronic substitutions and aluminium alloying in the Ta-Nb-Hf-Zr-Ti high-entropy alloy superconductor, Phys. Rev. Mater. 2, 034801 (2018).
E. M. Carnicom, W. Xie, Z. Sobczak, T. Kong, T. Klimczuk, and R. J. Cava, Superconductivity in the Nb-Ru-Ge $σ$ phase, Phys. Rev. Mater. 1, 074802 (2017).

Physical Review Materials

Export citation

Export citation

Phase selection and superconductivity in compositionally similar high-entropy alloys

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (35)

Outline

Information

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation