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First-principles evidence for conventional superconductivity in a quasicrystal approximant

Pedro N. Ferreira1,*, Roman Lucrezi2, Sangmin Lee3, Lucy Nathwani3, Matthew Julian4, Rohit P. Prasankumar4, Warren E. Pickett5, Chris J. Pickard6,7, Philip Kim3 et al.

Christoph Heil1,†

  • *Contact author: nunesferreira@tugraz.at
  • †Contact author: christoph.heil@tugraz.at
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Phys. Rev. B 114, 074512 – Published 27 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qx58-z229

Abstract

Quasicrystals (QCs) host long-range order without translational symmetry, a regime in which the very foundations of BCS theory are not straightforwardly applicable, yet experiments on QCs and their approximant crystals (ACs) point to conventional, s-wave, electron–phonon-coupled superconductivity. Here, we test the predictive power of the electron–phonon framework in a representative decagonal AC from first principles. Using state-of-the-art ab initio methods, we compute the superconducting properties of the recently discovered AC Al13Os4 and quantitatively reproduce its bulk Tc. This provides an ab initio determination of Tc for an AC and establishes that the electron–phonon framework is predictive in these systems. Using the generalized quasichemical approximation for alloy modeling in the decagonal Al–Os family, we predict tunable superconductivity in Al13Os4−xRex and Al13Os4−xIrx; in particular, Al13Re4 is dynamically stable and estimated to have a Tc about 30% above that of Al13Os4. Finally, we discuss the role of ACs as high-fidelity proxies for their parent QCs. Although long-range quasiperiodicity may introduce subtle electronic features, our findings indicate that the key ingredients for superconductivity are already encoded in the local structural motifs preserved by the AC. This places the Al–Os and Al–Re families among the most promising candidates for the highest-Tc quasicrystalline superconductivity.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, 074512– Published 27 August, 2026
  • Received 7 April 2026
  • Revised 21 July 2026
  • Accepted 3 August 2026
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