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Title: Discovery of Superconductivity in Hard Hexagonal ε-NbN

Abstract

Since the discovery of superconductivity in boron-doped diamond with a critical temperature (TC) near 4 K, great interest has been attracted in hard superconductors such as transition-metal nitrides and carbides. Here we report the new discovery of superconductivity in polycrystalline hexagonal ε-NbN synthesized at high pressure and high temperature. Direct magnetization and electrical resistivity measurements demonstrate that the superconductivity in bulk polycrystalline hexagonal ε-NbN is below ~11.6 K, which is significantly higher than that for boron-doped diamond. The nature of superconductivity in hexagonal ε-NbN and the physical mechanism for the relatively lower TC have been addressed by the weaker bonding in the Nb-N network, the co-planarity of Nb-N layer as well as its relatively weaker electron-phonon coupling, as compared with the cubic δ-NbN counterpart. Moreover, the newly discovered ε-NbN superconductor remains stable at pressures up to ~20 GPa and is significantly harder than cubic δ-NbN; it is as hard as sapphire, ultra-incompressible and has a high shear rigidity of 201 GPa to rival hard/superhard material γ-B (~227 GPa). Furthermore, this exploration opens a new class of highly desirable materials combining the outstanding mechanical/elastic properties with superconductivity, which may be particularly attractive for its technological and engineering applications in extreme environments.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [6];  [4];  [4];  [3];  [4];  [2]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Jilin Univ., Changchun (China); State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
  2. State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  4. Jilin Univ., Changchun (China)
  5. Southwest Univ. of Science and Technology, Sichuan (China)
  6. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1466817
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1245381
Report Number(s):
BNL-111904-2016-JA
Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322; PII: BFsrep22330
Grant/Contract Number:  
NA0001815; SC00112704
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; NbN; superconductivity; pressure; elasticity; structural materials; superconducting properties and materials

Citation Formats

Zou, Yongtao, Qi, Xintong, Zhang, Cheng, Ma, Shuailing, Zhang, Wei, Li, Ying, Chen, Ting, Wang, Xuebing, Chen, Zhiqiang, Welch, David, Zhu, Pinwen, Liu, Bingbing, Li, Qiang, Cui, Tian, and Li, Baosheng. Discovery of Superconductivity in Hard Hexagonal ε-NbN. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/srep22330.
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Zou, Yongtao, Qi, Xintong, Zhang, Cheng, Ma, Shuailing, Zhang, Wei, Li, Ying, Chen, Ting, Wang, Xuebing, Chen, Zhiqiang, Welch, David, Zhu, Pinwen, Liu, Bingbing, Li, Qiang, Cui, Tian, & Li, Baosheng. Discovery of Superconductivity in Hard Hexagonal ε-NbN. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22330
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Zou, Yongtao, Qi, Xintong, Zhang, Cheng, Ma, Shuailing, Zhang, Wei, Li, Ying, Chen, Ting, Wang, Xuebing, Chen, Zhiqiang, Welch, David, Zhu, Pinwen, Liu, Bingbing, Li, Qiang, Cui, Tian, and Li, Baosheng. Mon . "Discovery of Superconductivity in Hard Hexagonal ε-NbN". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22330. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1466817.
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@article{osti_1466817,
title = {Discovery of Superconductivity in Hard Hexagonal ε-NbN},
author = {Zou, Yongtao and Qi, Xintong and Zhang, Cheng and Ma, Shuailing and Zhang, Wei and Li, Ying and Chen, Ting and Wang, Xuebing and Chen, Zhiqiang and Welch, David and Zhu, Pinwen and Liu, Bingbing and Li, Qiang and Cui, Tian and Li, Baosheng},
abstractNote = {Since the discovery of superconductivity in boron-doped diamond with a critical temperature (TC) near 4 K, great interest has been attracted in hard superconductors such as transition-metal nitrides and carbides. Here we report the new discovery of superconductivity in polycrystalline hexagonal ε-NbN synthesized at high pressure and high temperature. Direct magnetization and electrical resistivity measurements demonstrate that the superconductivity in bulk polycrystalline hexagonal ε-NbN is below ~11.6 K, which is significantly higher than that for boron-doped diamond. The nature of superconductivity in hexagonal ε-NbN and the physical mechanism for the relatively lower TC have been addressed by the weaker bonding in the Nb-N network, the co-planarity of Nb-N layer as well as its relatively weaker electron-phonon coupling, as compared with the cubic δ-NbN counterpart. Moreover, the newly discovered ε-NbN superconductor remains stable at pressures up to ~20 GPa and is significantly harder than cubic δ-NbN; it is as hard as sapphire, ultra-incompressible and has a high shear rigidity of 201 GPa to rival hard/superhard material γ-B (~227 GPa). Furthermore, this exploration opens a new class of highly desirable materials combining the outstanding mechanical/elastic properties with superconductivity, which may be particularly attractive for its technological and engineering applications in extreme environments.},
doi = {10.1038/srep22330},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = 1,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 29 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Mon Feb 29 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Superconductivity with high hardness in Mo 3 C 2
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