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Effect of Zr addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of CoCrFeNiZrx high-entropy alloy thin films

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Abstract

As the technology of microscale devices evolves to smaller dimensions, the newly surged high-entropy alloys (HEAs), in particular high entropy alloy thin films (HEAFs), manifest excellent properties for practical applications. However, limited studies to date focused on microstructures and their impact on mechanical properties of HEAFs. In this work, we systematically investigated the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties of CoCrFeNiZrx (x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 1) high-entropy alloy thin films. A transition from single-phase crystal to amorphous structure was observed with increasing Zr concentration from 0 to 20.7 at.%. In the intermediate Zr concentration ranging from 7.0 to 12.9 at.%, Zr addition renders a crystal–amorphous dual-phase structure with Zr element segregation and a peak hardness of 6.7 GPa. These findings not only provide deep insight into understanding alloying effects on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of HEAFs, but also present valuable information for designing ultrastrong high-entropy alloys for practical applications, such as microelectronic devices, lightweight lattices and advanced coating industry.

Highlights

  • The CoCrFeNiZrx high-entropy alloy thin films were synthesized by the direct current magnetron co-sputtering.

  • A transition from single-phase nanocrystalline to amorphous structure was observed with increasing Zr concentration.

  • Zr segregation occurs in amorphous region of crystal–amorphous dual-phase thin films.

  • Compared with crystalline and amorphous thin films, the crystal–amorphous dual-phase high-entropy alloy thin film exhibits nearly double hardness/strength.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully thank the funding supports from Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee under the Grant JCYJ20170818103206501. Part of this work was supported by City University of Hong Kong (Project Nos. 6000604 and 9667153).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    Xiaobin Feng, Sufeng Fan, James Utama Surjadi, Ke Cao & Yang Lu

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Fanling Meng

  3. College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Weibing Liao

  4. Nano-Manufacturing Laboratory (NML), City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, 518057, China

    Yang Lu

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  1. Xiaobin Feng
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  2. Sufeng Fan
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  3. Fanling Meng
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  4. James Utama Surjadi
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  5. Ke Cao
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  6. Weibing Liao
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  7. Yang Lu
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Correspondence to Yang Lu.

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Feng, X., Fan, S., Meng, F. et al. Effect of Zr addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of CoCrFeNiZrx high-entropy alloy thin films. Appl Nanosci 11, 771–776 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-019-01057-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-019-01057-7

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