title: Deviation from high-entropy configurations in the atomic distributions of a multi-principal-element alloy.
abstract: The alloy-design strategy of combining multiple elements in near-equimolar ratios has shown great potential for producing exceptional engineering materials, often known as 'high-entropy alloys'. Understanding the elemental distribution, and, thus, the evolution of the configurational entropy during solidification, is undertaken in the present study using the Al₁.₃CoCrCuFeNi model alloy. Here we show that, even when the material undergoes elemental segregation, precipitation, chemical ordering and spinodal decomposition, a significant amount of disorder remains, due to the distributions of multiple elements in the major phases. The results suggest that the high-entropy alloy-design strategy may be applied to a wide range of complex materials, and should not be limited to the goal of creating single-phase solid solutions.
authors.affiliation: 1] Instrument and Source Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA [2] Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
authors.forename: Louis J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Santodonato
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feygenson
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
authors.forename: Chad M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Parish
authors.affiliation: 1] National Energy Technology Laboratory, Albany, Oregon 97321, USA [2] URS Corporation, Albany, Oregon 97321, USA.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: 1] Materials Development Inc., Evanston, Illinois 60202, USA [2] Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J K
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Engineering Materials Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
authors.forename: Joerg C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Neuefeind
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Liaw