Stability and superconductivity of 4d and 5d transition metal high-entropy alloys

Abstract

We report the synthesis of new equimolar high-entropy alloys (HEAs) formed from five or six 4d/5d transition metals that are each from a different Group of the Periodic Table. These include MoReRuRhPt and MoReRuIrPt, which have a valence electron count (VEC) of 8 and crystallise in the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure, making them isoelectronic and isostructural to the elements Ru and Os and the high-pressure phase of the well-known HEA CrMnFeCoNi. Analogous HEAs with VECs of 7, 6 and 5 crystallise with multiple phases, which we rationalise using the atomic size difference, ${\delta}$, and the electronegativity difference, ${\Delta}$${\chi}$, of the constituent elements. Finally, we find our hcp and mixed hcp-${\sigma}$ phase HEAs to be superconductors, and compare their critical temperatures to those of isostructural elements and other HEAs that have recently been reported.