Pressure induced superconductivity in WB2 and ReB2 through modifying the B layers

Abstract

The recent discovery of superconductivity up to 32 K in the pressurized MoB2 reignites the interests in exploring high-Tc superconductors in transition-metal diborides. Inspired by that work, we turn our attention to the 5d transition-metal diborides. Here we systematically investigate the responses of both structural and physical properties of WB2 and ReB2 to external pressure, which possess different types of boron layers. Similar to MoB2, the pressure-induced superconductivity was also observed in WB2 above 60 GPa with a maximum Tc of 15 K at 100 GPa, while no superconductivity was detected in ReB2 in this pressure range. Interestingly, the structures at ambient pressure for both WB2 and ReB2 persist to high pressure without structural phase transitions. Theoretical calculations suggest that the ratio of flat boron layers in this class of transition-metal diborides may be crucial for the appearance of high Tc. The combined theoretical and experimental results highlight the effect of geometry of boron layers on superconductivity and shed light on the exploration of novel high-Tc superconductors in borides.

17 pages,5 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Quantum ESPRESSO: a modular and open-source software project for quantum simulations of materials
• Structural and magnetic phase diagram of CeFeAsO1-xFx and its relationship to high-temperature superconductivity
• Charge density wave orders and enhanced superconductivity under pressure in the kagome metal CsV3Sb5
• MoB2 under Pressure: Superconducting Mo Enhanced by Boron
• Caging-Pnictogen-Induced Superconductivity in Skutterudites IrX3 (X = As, P)

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Pressure-induced Superconductivity and Topological Quantum Phase Transitions in the Topological Semimetal ZrTe2
• Superconductivity up to 14.2 K in MnB${}_4$ under pressure
• Quantifying the nonadiabaticity strength constant in recently discovered highly-compressed superconductors
• A-15 type superconducting hydride $L{a}_4{H}_{23}$: Nanograined structure with low strain, strong electron-phonon interaction, and moderate level of nonadiabaticity
• $d$-wave superconductivity as a model for diborides apart MgB${}_2$
• Pressure-Tuning Superconductivity in Noncentrosymmetric Topological Materials ZrRuAs
• Machine-learning Guided Search for Phonon-mediated Superconductivity in Boron and Carbon Compounds
• Pressure-induced superconductivity in LaP2 with graphenelike phosphorus layer
• Super-hard and superconducting boron clathrates in the prediction of U-B compounds
• Superconducting ternary compounds Li-X-B (X=Mo, W) within the mild pressure range: First-principles predictions