Superconductivity and electronic properties of amorphous transition metal alloys

Abstract

Amorphous superconducting materials were first prepared over twenty years ago by Buckel and Hilsch [1] using the technique of evaporation onto a cryogenically cooled substrate. Since this early work on simple metals, such studies have been extended to transition metal thin films and more recently to bulk metallic glasses prepared by rapid cooling of liquid metals. This article presents a brief survey of current experimental work on amorphous transition metals and alloys. The relationship between superconductivity and microscopic electronic structure is emphasized. Results of structural studies, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements, photoemission spectroscopy, transport measurements, and superconductive tunneling experiments are covered. The role of structural disorder in determining the nature of the superconducting state is discussed, and possible technical applications of these materials which exploit their unique properties are pointed out.