High entropy alloys (HEAs) have been a hot research area for many years. They are solid solutions of at least five elements in approximately equimolar compositions. The HEAs are assumed to be stabilized by a high entropy of mixing favouring a solid solution phase instead of a mixture of intermetallic phases. The importance of entropy of mixing and the true nature of HEAs are debated but the concept has contributed to an interesting development of new alloys. They idea of stabilizing solid solutions with many elements have recently been expanded to nitrides, borides, oxides and carbides. Furthermore, a growing number of thin film studies of these compounds are now published. In this paper we summarise recent results from studies of carbon-containing multi-component thin films based on the HEA concept. We will summarise some general observations connected to "high-entropy" materials. We also describe some general trends in metal-carbon interactions for transition metals and discuss how they should influence the formation of multi-component carbides. A summary of results on bulk multi-component carbide materials is also presented. We review published studies of carbon-containing multi-component thin films mainly deposited with magnetron-sputtering. The crystal structure, microstructure and properties of these films are described. Finally, we highlight some interesting topics for future research.

Ge nanoparticles embedded in thin films have attracted a lot of attention due to their promising optical and electronic properties that can be tuned by varying the particle size and choice of matrix material. In this study, Ge nanoparticle formation was investigated for Al-Ge-N based thin films by simultaneous measurements of HAXPES and grazing incidence XRD during in situ annealing in vacuum conditions. As-deposited Al-Ge-N thin films, synthesized by reactive dc magnetron sputtering, consisted of a nanocrystalline (Al_1–xGe_x)N_y solid solution and an amorphous tissue phase of Ge₃N_y. Upon annealing to 750 °C, elemental Ge was formed shown by both HAXPES and XRD measurements, and N₂ gas was released as measured by a mass spectrometer. Postannealed ex situ analysis by SEM and TEM showed that the elemental Ge phase formed spherical nanoparticles on the surface of the film, with an average size of 210 nm. As the annealing temperature increased further to 850 °C, the Ge particles on the film surface evaporated, while the phase segregation of Ge still could be observed within the film. Thus, these results show the possibility for a controlled synthesis of Ge nanoparticles through annealing of Al-Ge-N thin films to produce materials suitable for use in electronic or optoelectronic devices.

In this study, we show that the phase formation of HfNbTiVZr high-entropy thin films is strongly influenced by the substrate temperature. Films deposited at room temperature exhibit an amorphous microstructure and are 6.5 GPa hard. With increasing substrate temperature (room temperature to 275 degrees C), a transition from an amorphous to a single-phased body-centred cubic (bcc) solid solution occurs, resulting in a hardness increase to 7.9 GPa. A higher deposition temperature (450 degrees C) leads to the formation of C14 or C15 Laves phase precipitates in the bcc matrix and a further enhancement of mechanical properties with a peak hardness value of 9.2 GPa. These results also show that thin films follow different phase formation pathways compared to HfNbTiVZr bulk alloys.

The structural, electronic and magnetic properties of phase pure and stoichiometric samples of the double perovskite Nd2NiMnO6. Photoectron spectroscopy revels a mixed valence of the transition metal sites where Ni has 3+/2+ oxidation states and Mn has 3+/4+. The compound orders ferromagnetically at 195 K. The magnetic structure was determined from the refinement of the neutron diffraction data. The results suggests that the B-site magnetic moments align along the crystallographic a-direction.

Pure Nickel (Ni) and Nickel-Palladium (Ni-Pd) alloy were electrodeposited on graphite surface via pulse electrolysis in dimethyl sulfoxide in form of rods and nanoparticles with a diameter of similar to 100-350 and similar to 10-35 nm, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of Ni 2p(3/2) region for these nanomaterials suggests on their surface Ni2+ precursor while after Ar+ ion-etching metallic nickel starts to be dominated. Both Pd-0 and Pd2+ for XPS spectra of Pd 3d(5/2) and 3d(3/2) were observed after electrodeposition. Scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray and XPS analysis confirmed electrodeposition of nickel nanomaterials in non-aqueous electrolyte. Using a lower concentration of Ni2+ precursor, nanoparticles with an average particle size of similar to 10-23 nm were prepared on a graphite surface.

Antiphase boundaries (APBs) normally form as a consequence of the initial growth conditions in all spinel ferrite thin films. These boundaries result from the intrinsic nucleation and growth mechanism, and are observed as regions where the periodicity of the crystalline lattice is disrupted. The presence of APBs in epitaxial films of the inverse spinel Fe3O4 alters their electronic and magnetic properties due to strong antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions across these boundaries. We explore the effect of using in-plane in situ electric-field-assisted growth on the formation of APBs in heteroepitaxial Fe3O4(100)/MgO(100) thin films. The electric-field-assisted growth is found to reduce the AF interactions across APBs and, as a consequence, APB-free thin-film-like properties are obtained, which have been probed by electronic, magnetic, and structural characterization. The electric field plays a critical role in controlling the density of APBs during the nucleation process by providing an electrostatic force acting on adatoms and therefore changing their kinetics. This innovative technique can be employed to grow epitaxial spinel thin films with controlled AF interactions across APBs.

The combination of ceramic hardness with high crack resistance is a major challenge in the design of protective thin films. High entropy alloys have shown in earlier studies promising mechanical properties with a potential use as thin film materials. In this study, we show that small amounts of carbon in magnetron-sputtered multicomponent CrNbTaTiW films can lead to a significant increase in hardness. The film properties were strongly dependent on the metal composition and the most promising results were observed for TaW-rich films. They crystallised in a bcc structure with a strong (110) texture and coherent grain boundaries. It was possible to deposit films with 8 at.% C in a supersaturated solid-solution into the bcc structure without carbide formation. A major effect of carbon was a significant grain refinement, reducing the column diameter from approximately 35 to 10 nm. This resulted in an increase in hardness from 14.7 to 19.1 GPa while the reduced E-modulus stayed constant at 322 GPa. The carbon-containing films exhibited extremely little plastic deformation around the indent and no cracks were observed. These results show that supersaturation of carbon into high entropy films can be a promising concept to combine superior hardness with high crack resistance.

Ternary Al-Ge-N and quaternary Al-Ge-O-N coatings were deposited by reactive dc magnetron cosputtering of Al and Ge targets in an Ar/N-2 or Ar/N-2/O-2 atmosphere at a substrate temperature of 250 degrees C. The structure and material properties of the coatings were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nanoindentation, UV-vis spectroscopy and optical profilometry. In agreement with literature, the ternary Al-Ge-N coatings were found to be nanocomposite materials with nanocrystalline (Al1-xGex) N-y solid solution phase in a Ge3N4-z amorphous matrix. The Al-Ge-O-N coatings consisted of a nanocrystalline wurzite-type (Al1-xGex)( N1-yOy) solid solution phase for low oxygen concentrations with a possible co-existence of an amorphous Ge-N matrix phase. For higher O contents, the coatings became X-ray amorphous. The mechanical properties of the Al-Ge-O-N films were improved for low oxygen content, as compared to the ternary Al-Ge-N samples, showing an increase in hardness up to 29 GPa and Young's modulus to 320 GPa. The oxygen addition also resulted in an additional design parameter of the optical properties compared to the ternary Al-Ge-N films. The optical absorption edge was thus tuneable towards both shorter and longer wavelength by changing the O and Ge content respectively, and ranged from 302 to 373 nm, corresponding to an optical bandgap (E-04) between 4.1 and 3.3 eV. After annealing of the Al-Ge-O-N coatings in ultra-high vacuum at 500 degrees C, indications of increased thermal stability for the coating with high oxygen content were observed. For the annealed Al-Ge-O-N films the mechanical properties were improved upon heat treatment, while the optical properties were only slightly changed. These results suggests that coatings of the Al-Ge-O-N system could be suitable as protective optical coatings at elevated temperatures.

Multicomponent nitride coatings of the Hf-Nb-Ti-V-Zr system with different Hf content (0-18 at.%) were deposited using reactive dc magnetron sputtering. Coatings with lower Hf content (0-7 at.%) were found to consist of a single solid solution phase with NaCl-type structure (space group Fm-3m). Coatings with higher Hf content (10-18 at.%) showed a two-phase material consisting of cubic Fm-3m and tetragonal I4/m:run solid solution phase. The lattice distortion, estimated by calculating the delta-parameter under the assumption of a single solid solution phase, varied between 3.8 and 4.0% and slightly decreased with increasing Hf content. SEM and TEM cross section images showed a columnar microstructure with columns that were frayed on the surface or throughout the whole column. The column size decreased as Hf content increased. The hardness increased from 8 to 19 GPa with increased Hf content, which most probably is related to the change in microstructure rather than change in lattice distortion. The electrical resistivity for all samples ranged between 231 and 286 mu Omega cm.

Multicomponent nitride coatings of the Hf-Nb-Ti-V-Zr system with different Hf content (0–18 at.%) were deposited using reactive dc magnetron sputtering. Coatings with lower Hf content (0–7 at.%) were found to consist of a single solid solution phase with NaCl-type structure (space group Fm-3" role="presentation">m). Coatings with higher Hf content (10–18 at.%) showed a two-phase material consisting of cubic Fm-3" role="presentation">m and tetragonal I4/mmm solid solution phase. The lattice distortion, estimated by calculating the δ-parameter under the assumption of a single solid solution phase, varied between 3.8 and 4.0% and slightly decreased with increasing Hf content. SEM and TEM cross section images showed a columnar microstructure with columns that were frayed on the surface or throughout the whole column. The column size decreased as Hf content increased. The hardness increased from 8 to 19 GPa with increased Hf content, which most probably is related to the change in microstructure rather than change in lattice distortion. The electrical resistivity for all samples ranged between 231 and 286 μΩcm.