This book offers a comprehensive survey of the latest research concerning high-entropy alloy (HEA) superconductors, an emerging topic which has attracted significant attention since their discovery in 2014. HEAs represent a novel class of materials introduced in 2004, renowned for their exceptional mechanical attributes, robust resistance to corrosion, and remarkable thermal stability, among other characteristics. Superconductivity has emerged as a particularly prominent subject in this domain. Recent important findings are robust superconductivity under extraordinarily high pressure or ion irradiation, possible unconventional superconductivity, enhancement of bulk superconductivity, and high critical current density.

In this book, HEA superconductors are classified into two primary categories: The first class encompasses alloy systems characterized by body-centered cubic and hexagonal close-packed structures; and the second class comprises intermetallic types. In each of these classes, the authors expound upon the exotic properties, applications, and materials design, aligning with the overarching themes of their work.

This book delivers a topical and timely discussion of superconductivity associated with the high-entropy state, the potential applications under consideration, and the intricacies of materials design. These recent discoveries are poised to captivate many researchers in materials science, particularly those engaged in high-entropy alloys and the realm of superconducting properties and technology.

Autorentext

Jiro Kitagawa received his B.S. degree in physics from Kyoto University, Japan, in 1993, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1995 and 1998, respectively. At the University of Tokyo, he carried out materials research on rare-earth intermetallic compounds showing quadrupolar orderings. After 2002 he was a research associate at Hiroshima University, Japan, and was then engaged in the study of material properties using the terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopic method and the development of THz devices. He was an associate professor at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Japan, from 2012 to 2014, and has been a professor there since 2015. His research interests include materials research on magnetic and superconducting materials. Currently, his work focuses on magnetism and superconductivity in high-entropy alloys and chemical control of the magnetic state in a compound with a complex crystal structure.

Yoshikazu Mizuguchi received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics in 2006 and 2008, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in engineering from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, in 2010. At the University of Tsukuba, he carried out materials research on Fe-based superconductors and strongly correlated vanadium oxides. He joined Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan, as an assistant professor in 2011, and is now an associate professor there. His research interests include materials research on superconducting and thermoelectric materials including high-entropy-alloy-type compounds.