Search

Ti33.33Zr33.33Hf13.33Ni20 and Zr30Hf30Ni15Cu10Ti15 alloys were investigated for their possibility to be formed into a high-entropy alloy (HEA) with a quasicrystalline (QC) structure that contains an icosahedral- (I-) phase. The melt-spun alloys quenched at a circumference speed of 39 m/s were formed into an amorphous single phase. The amorphous alloys annealed up to a temperature between the first and second crystallization temperatures exhibited mixed phases of I- and remaining amorphous phases. Observation of the Zr30Hf30Ni15Cu10Ti15 amorphous alloy heated up to 745 K with transmission electron microscope revealed the presence of precipitates with diameters ranging 10–20 nm. Nano-beam diffraction demonstrated that the precipitates were identified to be the I-phase with the five-, three- and two-fold symmetries. The Ti33.33Zr33.33Hf13.33Ni20 and Zr30Hf30Ni15Cu10Ti15 alloys were not formed into a single quasicrystalline phase as HEAs, but the discussions of the current and early experimental data led to provide the way to approach high-entropy quasicrystalline alloys (HE-QCs).

The phase stability of high entropy alloy (HEA), Al 0.5 TiZrPdCuNi, under fast electron irradiation was studied by in-situ high voltage electron microscopy (HVEM). The initial phase of this alloy quenched from the melt was dependent on cooling rate. At high cooling rates an amorphous phase was obtained, whereas a body-centered cubic ( b.c.c. ) phase were obtained at low cooling rates. By thermal crystallization of the amorphous phase b.c.c. phase nano-crystals were formed. Upon fast electron irradiation solid state amorphization (SSA) was observed in b.c.c. phase regardless of the initial microstructure (i.e., “coarse crystalline structure” or “nano-crystalline structure with grain boundaries as a sink for point defects”). SSA behavior in the Al 0.5 TiZrPdCuNi HEAs was investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscopy observations. Because the amorphization is very rarely achieved in a solid solution phase under fast electron irradiation in common metallic materials, this result suggests that the Al 0.5 TiZrPdCuNi HEA from other common alloys and the other HEAs. The differences in phase stability against the irradiation between the Al 0.5 TiZrPdCuNi HEA and the other HEAs were discussed. This is the first experimental evidence of SSA in HEAs stimulated by fast electron irradiation.

Thin-film metallic glasses (TFMGs) are an optimal material for nanoimprint technology. In this study, we prepared Ti–Cu–Zr–Ni–Hf–Si TFMG films by Ar ion bombardment using unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UBMS) and investigated the effect of nanoimprint temperature and deposition bias voltage on the thermal formability during nanoimprinting. The supercooled liquid region of the films increased with increasing Ar ion bombardment intensity. During nanoimprinting of the films deposited at −200 V using a Si mold with a pillar pattern, the hole depth of the nanoimprinted films increased with increasing nanoimprint temperature. During nanoimprinting of the films deposited with different bias voltages using a Si mold with a line and space pattern at 723 K, the line height of the nanoimprinted films increased with increasing bias voltage. This enhancement in the thermal formability was probably due to the decreasing viscosity of the film by Ar ion bombardment. In addition, the surfaces of the nanoimprinted films deposited using intense Ar ion bombardment were very smooth. Thus, Ar ion bombardment by UBMS is an effective method for fabricating TFMGs for nanoimprint technology.

A senary ScYLaTiZrHf alloy was investigated for its ability to form a solid solution with an hcp structure, also known as a high-entropy alloy (HEA). X-ray diffraction analysis of the ScYLaTiZrHf alloy produced by arc-melting method confirmed this hcp structure. The microstructure of the ScYLaTiZrHf was composed of dual phases that were enriched in (Y, La) or (Ti, Zr, Hf), with Sc distributed evenly across both phases. The positive mixing enthalpy of 11.4 kJ mol−1 derived from Miedema's model, and the immiscible tendencies of its constituent binary phase diagrams help to explain the presence of dual phases in the ScYLaTiZrHf alloy. When formed into dual hcp solid solutions, the ScYLaTiZrHf alloy can be more accurately described as a multi-principal-element alloy (MPEA) rather than as a HEA, since the ScYLaTiZrHf alloy is a solid solution that is enthalpy-driven instead of entropy driven. The results also disclosed another procedure to stabilize solid solutions excepting for high-entropy scheme.

Pettifor map for binary compounds with 1:1 stoichiometry was utilized as an alloy design for high-entropy alloys (HEAs) with exact or near equi-atomicity in multicomponent systems. Experiments started with selecting GuGd binary compound with CsCl structure from Pettifor map, followed by its extensions by selecting the binary compounds with the same CsCl structure to CuDyGdTbY equi-atomic quinary alloy and to Cu4GdTbDyY and Ag4GdTbDyY quinary alloys and Cu2Ag2GdTbDyY senary alloy in sequence. X-ray diffraction revealed that CuDyGdTbY alloy was formed into a HEA with mixture of bcc, fcc and hcp structures, whereas the Cu2Ag2GdTbDyY HEA was a single CsCl phase. The results suggest a potential of Pettifor map for the development of HEAs by utilizing its information of crystallographic structures. The further analysis was performed for composition diagrams of multicomponent systems corresponding to simplices in a high dimensional space. The present results revealed that a strategy of equi-mole of compounds instead of conventional equi-atomicity also works for the development of HEAs.