Superconductivity and Metastability in Alloys of the Mo—Re System

A thesis which is presently gaining wide currency is the belief that all high-temperature superconductors are inherently structurally unstable (see, e.g., Ref. 1). If one accepts this theory, it is apparent that the achievement of higher transition temperatures must be dependent upon the preparation of new metastable superconductors. Recently we have been investigating the properties of thin-film alloys of the Mo—Re system and have found that metastable Mo—Re phases, not observed in bulk samples, can be obtained in these alloys. In this paper we report on these new structures and also on their effect on the maximum superconducting transition temperatures obtainable in the Mo—Re system.