Robustness of superconductivity to external pressure in high-entropy-alloy-type metal telluride AgInSnPbBiTe5

Abstract

AbstractHigh-entropy-alloy (HEA) superconductors are a new class of disordered superconductors. However, commonality of superconducting characteristics of HEA materials is unclear. Here, we have investigated the crystal and electronic structure, and the robustness of superconducting states in a HEA-type metal telluride (MTe; M = Ag, In, Sn, Pb, Bi) under high pressure, and the results were compared with the pressure effects for a middle-entropy system (AgPbBiTe3) and a reference system of PbTe. When the crystal structure is CsCl-type, all phases show superconductivity under high pressure but exhibit different pressure dependences of the transition temperature (Tc). For PbTe, its Tc decreases with pressure. In contrast, the Tc of HEA-type AgInSnPbBiTe5 is almost independent of pressure, for pressures ranging from 13.0 to 35.1 GPa. Those results suggest that the robustness of superconductivity to external pressure is linked to the configurational entropy of mixing at the M site in MTe. Since the trend is quite similar to previous work on a HEA (Ti–Zr–Hf–Nb–Ta), where the robustness of superconductivity was observed up to ~ 200 GPa, we propose that the robustness of superconductivity under high pressure would be a universal feature in HEA-type superconductors.