Single-Crystal Growth of a FeCoCrMnAl High-Entropy Alloy

TL;DR

This paper reports the first successful growth of a large single crystal of a high-entropy alloy, demonstrating its microstructure and crystal quality using the Bridgman technique and X-ray analysis.

Contribution

It presents the first successful growth of a centimeter-scale single crystal of a high-entropy alloy, advancing materials synthesis methods.

Findings

Single crystal of FeCoCrMnAl alloy grown successfully

Crystal exhibits high-quality Laue diffraction patterns

Microstructure includes B2 inclusions in BCC matrix

Abstract

We have grown a single crystal of the equiatomic FeCoCrMnAl high-entropy alloy. The crystal was grown by means of the Bridgman technique and is about 1 cm in diameter and 6.6 cm in length. X-ray Laue images taken at various positions on the surface are sharp and mutually consistent, reflecting its single-crystal nature. We thus report on the first successful growth of a single crystal of a high-entropy alloy with a volume of the order of cubic centimeters. The material has a microstructure consisting of B2 inclusions in a body-centered cubic matrix on the 10 nm length scale.