Ambient-pressure superconductivity onset at 10 K and robust Tc under high pressure in TiNbTaN3 medium-entropy nitride

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of ambient-pressure superconductivity at 10 K in TiNbTaN3, a medium-entropy nitride, which remains robust under high pressure, supported by experimental and theoretical analyses.

Contribution

First observation of superconductivity in a bulk medium-entropy nitride with stable Tc under high pressure, expanding the material platform for high-Tc superconductors.

Findings

Superconductivity at 10 K observed at ambient pressure in TiNbTaN3.

Superconductivity remains stable under high-pressure conditions.

Electronic structure unaffected by pressure according to DFT calculations.

Abstract

Superconductivity has been one of the focal points in medium and high-entropy alloys (MEAs-HEAs) since the first discovery of the HEA superconductor in 2014. Until now, most HEAs' superconducting transition temperature (Tc) has not exceeded 10 K. Here we report the first observation of superconductivity in a bulk medium-entropy nitride (MEN), TiNbTaN3, which shows a Tc of 10 K at ambient pressure. Notably, the electronic specific heat coefficient {\gamma}(H) exhibits nonlinear H-dependence behavior, which is similar to other well-studied multigap superconductors. Furthermore, TiNbTaN3 exhibits extraordinary pressure resilience, maintaining robust superconductivity under high-pressure conditions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that pressure exerts a negligible impact on the electronic structures of TiNbTaN3, thereby corroborating the experimental observations. These findings not only advance our understanding of emergent phenomena in entropy-stabilized nitrides but also establish a new material platform for finding more high-Tc superconductors with combinations of 4d/5d transition metal elements and light elements, motivating further investigations into high-entropy functional ceramics for extreme environment applications.