Abstract
Advanced materials with superior properties are always desired to extend the applicabilities and functionalities in practical applications. However, with the rising complexity of materials composition and processing, especially after the proposal of the novel materials design concept "High Entropy Materials (HEMs)", the materials development becomes even more complicated. To accelerate the materials development continuum, numerous approaches have been proposed.In this work, we exploit an experimental combinatorial approach to investigate phase formation and microstructure evolution of reactively co-sputtered multiple principle elemental nitride thin films in a wide compositional space in the Hf-Nb-Ti-V-Zr-N system. The correlation among elemental composition, structure and mechanical properties of the deposited thin films has been addressed. Among all compositions, a Hf3.5Nb2.6Ti22.9V4.9Zr17.7N thin film shows an optimum hardness of 39.3GPa. The presence of a single-phase crystal structure of (HfNbTiVZr)N thin films within wide compositional space is probed and has been demonstrated. Furthermore, high-throughput scratch test examination of the high entropy nitride (HfNbTiVZr)N thin films show that coatings with a ratio of hardness to reduced modulus (H/Er) around 0.1 would have favorable scratch resistance.
NSTL
Elsevier