Change of electronic properties on transition from high-entropy to Ni-rich (TiZrNbCu)(1-x)Ni(x) alloys

TL;DR

This study investigates how electronic properties of (TiZrNbCu)(1-x)Ni(x) alloys evolve across high-entropy and Ni-rich regimes, revealing changes in density of states, superconductivity, and electrical resistivity.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of electronic structure and transport properties across a broad composition range, highlighting the transition from high-entropy to Ni-rich alloys.

Findings

Density of states shows split-band structure with d-electrons at Fermi level.

Superconducting transition temperatures correlate with density of states.

Electrical resistivity decreases with temperature, indicating weak localization effects.

Abstract

We present results of comprehensive study of electronic properties of (TiZrNbCu)(1-x)Ni(x) metallic glasses performed in broad composition range x encompassing both, high entropy (HE) range, and conventional Ni-base alloy concentration range, x >= 0.35. The electronic structure studied by photoemission spectroscopy and low temperature specific heat (LTSH) reveal a split-band structure of density of states inside valence band with d-electrons of Ti, Zr, Nb and also Ni present at Fermi level N(E_F), whereas LTSH and magnetoresistivity results show that variation of N(E_F) with x changes in Ni-base regime. The variation of superconducting transition temperatures with x closely follows that of N(E_F). The electrical resistivities of all alloys are high and decrease with increasing temperature over most of explored temperature range, and their temperature dependence seems dominated by weak localization effects over a broad temperature range (10-300 K). The preliminary study of Hall effect shows positive Hall coefficient that decreases rapidly in Ni-base alloys.