Structure and Superconductivity of Hydrogenated TiZr Alloys Under High Pressure

Abstract

The effects of pressure on the structure and electrical transport properties, including electrical resistance and critical magnetic field values for superconductivity in pristine and hydrogenated TiZr alloys, were investigated. As pressure increased from ambient to 55 GPa, the structure of the pristine TiZr alloys transformed from hcp to bcc via an intermediate ω phase. The superconducting transition temperature (Tc) significantly increased from 1.76 K at ambient pressure to 15.5 K at 52.2 GPa, accompanied by an extrapolated upper critical field of 24.5 T at T = 0 K. In contrast, the hydrogenated samples exhibited substantially lower Tc values compared to the pristine ones, with a Tc of 4.6 K at 50.5 GPa and an extrapolated upper critical field of 1.8 T at T = 0 K. Upon decompression, the superconductivity in the hydrogenated sample persisted down to 25 GPa, disappearing when the pressure was reduced to 19 GPa. Synchrotron X-ray diffractions (XRD) analysis revealed the formation of three hydrides: I4/mmm-(Ti, Zr)H2, P63/mmc-(Ti, Zr)H3, and I4̅3d-(Ti,Zr)4H15. By combining XRD and electrical resistance data, we tentatively propose that the P63/mmc-(Ti, Zr)H3 predominantly induces superconductivity. In contrast to superhydrides, where electron-phonon interactions increase the superconducting temperature at high pressure, hydrogen atoms in hcp-(Ti, Zr)H3 reduce Tc