Itinerant-electron antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in bcc Cr-Re alloys

Abstract

The magnetic and superconducting properties of bcc Cr-Re alloys with up to 40 at. % Re were studied via measurements of the magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and nuclear magnetic resonance of the Re nuclei. Antiferromagnetic order coexists with superconductivity above 18 at. % Re. The results were analyzed with the coexistence model of spin-density waves and superconductivity. In the Re-concentration range greater than 18 at.%, about 10% of the Fermi surface satisfies the nesting condition and the rest of it contributes to form the superconducting gap. This model also explains the increase in the superconducting transition temperature and the decrease in the magnetic susceptibility by annealing as a competing effect between spin-density waves and superconductivity.