Structure and magnetic properties of Al-Cu-Fe-Ni-Si multicomponent films obtained by splat-quenching

The paper explores the structure, phase composition and magnetic properties of multicomponent high-entropy Al-Cu-Fe-Ni-Si films. This alloy system is characterized by the absence of expensive components, such as Co, V, Mo, Cr, usually used for the production of high-entropy alloys while its characteristics are not inferior to those of more expensive alloys. The films were fabricated by the known technique of splat-quenching. A cooling rate estimated by film thickness was ~ 10⁶ K/s. Experimental results reveal that the studied films except the Al_0.5CuFeNi one are multiphase, nanocrystalline, with the structure consisting of disordered BCC and FCC solid solutions. The Al_0.5CuFeNi film has only FCC phase. The leading role in determining the type of solid solution formed in the studied high-entropy films obviously plays an element with the highest melting point. All of the investigated multicomponent films are soft-magnetic materials as indicated by low values of coercivity.