Creating superconductivity in WB2 through pressure-induced metastable planar defects

Abstract

In 2001 superconductivity with a high critical temperature of 39 K was discovered in MgB2, but efforts since then to identify other diboride-family superconductors have been mostly unsuccessful. Here, the authors report the discovery of superconductivity in pressurized WB2, originating from the formation of metastable stacking faults and twin boundaries that exhibit a local structure resembling MgB2.