Ultrastrong ductile and stable high-entropy alloys at small scales

• Published in: Nature communications 2015-07, Vol.6 (1), p.7748-7748, Article 7748
• Main Authors: Zou, Yu, Ma, Huan, Spolenak, Ralph
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/1023/1026; 639/301/119/544; 639/925; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8748

Refractory high-entropy alloys (HEAs) are a class of emerging multi-component alloys, showing superior mechanical properties at elevated temperatures and being technologically interesting. However, they are generally brittle at room temperature, fail by cracking at low compressive strains and suffer from limited formability. Here we report a strategy for the fabrication of refractory HEA thin films and small-sized pillars that consist of strongly textured, columnar and nanometre-sized grains. Such HEA pillars exhibit extraordinarily high yield strengths of ∼10 GPa—among the highest reported strengths in micro-/nano-pillar compression and one order of magnitude higher than that of its bulk form—and their ductility is considerably improved (compressive plastic strains over 30%). Additionally, we demonstrate that such HEA films show substantially enhanced stability for high-temperature, long-duration conditions (at 1,100 °C for 3 days). Small-scale HEAs combining these properties represent a new class of materials in small-dimension devices potentially for high-stress and high-temperature applications. Refractory high-entropy alloys show promising mechanical properties at elevated temperatures, but are generally brittle at room temperature. Here, the authors observe an improved ductility and yield strength in high-entropy alloy micropillars consisting of nanometre-sized grains that also exhibit excellent thermal stability.