Magnetically-driven phase transformation strengthening in high entropy alloys

CrCoNi alloy exhibits a remarkable combination of strength and plastic deformation, even superior to the CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy. We connect the magnetic and mechanical properties of CrCoNi, via a magnetically tunable phase transformation. While both alloys crystallize as single-phase face-centered-cubic (fcc) solid solutions, we find a distinctly lower-energy phase in CrCoNi alloy with a hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure. Comparing the magnetic configurations of CrCoNi with those of other equiatomic ternary derivatives of CrMnFeCoNi confirms that magnetically frustrated Mn eliminates the fcc-hcp energy difference. This highlights the unique combination of chemistry and magnetic properties in CrCoNi, leading to a fcc-hcp phase transformation that occurs only in this alloy, and is triggered by dislocation slip and interaction with internal boundaries. This phase transformation sets CrCoNi apart from the parent quinary, and its other equiatomic ternary derivatives, and provides a new way for increasing strength without compromising plastic deformation.