An advancement in the synthesis of unique soft magnetic CoCuFeNiZn high entropy alloy thin films

Discovery of advanced soft-magnetic high entropy alloy (HEA) thin films are highly pursued to obtain unidentified functional materials. The figure of merit in current nanocrystalline HEA thin films relies in integration of a simple single-step electrochemical approach with a complex HEA system containing multiple elements with dissimilar crystal structures and large variation of melting points. A new family of Cobalt-Copper-Iron-Nickel-Zinc (Co-Cu-Fe-Ni-Zn) HEA thin films are prepared through pulse electrodeposition in aqueous medium, hosts nanocrystalline features in the range of similar to 5-20 nm having FCC and BCC dual phases. The fabricated Co-Cu-Fe-Ni-Zn HEA thin films exhibited high saturation magnetization value of similar to 82 emu/g, relatively low coercivity value of 19.5 Oe and remanent magnetization of 1.17%. Irrespective of the alloying of diamagnetic Zn and Cu with ferromagnetic Fe, Co, Ni elements, the HEA thin film has resulted in relatively high saturation magnetization which can provide useful insights for its potential unexplored applications.

Automated summary

A new family of Cobalt-Copper-Iron-Nickel-Zinc high entropy alloy thin films with nanocrystalline features has been prepared through pulse electrodeposition, showing high saturation magnetization and low coercivity, providing potential insights for future applications.