Role of magnetism in the stability of the high-entropy alloy CoCrFeMnNi and its derivatives

Abstract

Multiprincipal element alloys, called high-entropy alloys represent a promising group of materials. They possess unique mechanical or electrical properties, which provide a wide range of potential applications. In general, mechanical or electrical properties of a material are influenced by the magnetic behavior. Therefore, in our work, we are exploring magnetic behavior of so-called "Cantor alloy" CoCrFeMnNi and its molybdenum based derivatives. Mo alloys were studied not only to carefully describe their properties but also to probe the magnetic behavior of the parent alloy by adding a nonmagnetic element. Based on ab initio calculations using the TB-LMTO-ASA (tight-binding linear-muffin-tin-orbital atomic-sphere approximation) method within CPA (coherent-potential approximation), we have found the ground-state magnetic structures of a particular alloy. We deal with various magnetic structures including complex structures beyond the simple FM or DLM phases. We show the influence of the presence of a particular element on the magnetic properties. It includes, e.g., magnitudes of magnetic moments or preferred magnetic phases. The calculations were extended by studying the magnetic exchange interaction employing the Liechtenstein formula. We clearly show the contribution of each element to the magnetism as a function of the composition or crystal structure. We provide a thorough description of magnetic behavior in the mentioned compounds.