“…The superconducting transitions in the MgB 2 materials synthesized under a variety of conditions appear at around the limit of T c as was suggested theoretically several decades ago for BCS [3,5,7]. Actually, superconductivity in the metal borides with an AlB 2 -type structure has been studied for several decades [8,9]. In 1970, Cooper et al reported the presence of superconductivity in both the Nb-B and Mo-B systems, and they also noted that the stoichiometric compounds, NbB 2 and MoB 2 , in general were non-superconductors, and a few B-rich samples such as NbB 2.5 show sharp superconducting transitions [10].…”