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Combinatorial thin film screening to identify single-phase, non-equiatomic high entropy alloys in the MnFeCoNiCu system

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Abstract

To identify new face centered cubic high entropy alloys (HEAs), MnFeCoNiCu thin film samples were prepared by simultaneous magnetron sputtering of elements onto Si wafers. This sputtering arrangement yielded compositional gradients in the samples. The films exhibited regions with different phases, some of which were single-phase and non-equiatomic. To screen the crystal structure and composition across film samples, multiple characterization techniques were used: scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam, energy-dispersive x-ray spec-troscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electron backscattered diffraction analysis. Using this combinatorial method, candidate single-phase HEAs were identified and then successfully arc-melted in bulk form, followed by thermomechanical processing.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation under Grant No. KSEF-148-502-15-363. Access to characterization instruments and staffassistance was provided by the Electron Microscopy Center at the University of Kentucky, supported in part by the National Science Foundation/EPSCoR Award No. 1355438 and by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

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  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, 177 F. Paul Anderson Tower, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA

    Azin Akbari & Thomas J. Balk

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  1. Azin Akbari
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  2. Thomas J. Balk
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Correspondence to Thomas J. Balk.

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Akbari, A., Balk, T.J. Combinatorial thin film screening to identify single-phase, non-equiatomic high entropy alloys in the MnFeCoNiCu system. MRS Communications 9, 750–755 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2019.53

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