Multi-component and high-entropy nitride coatings—A promising field in need of a novel approach

Abstract

Multi-component and high-entropy nitrides are a growing field with a promise of new functional materials. The interest in the field was sparked by the adjacent field of high-entropy and multi-component alloys, and the promise consists of both demonstrated properties and a possibly very large freedom for materials design. These promises, however, also come with new challenges connected to the vast available experimental space, which is inherent in multi-component materials. Traditional materials science methodologies will be slow to make appreciable progress in such an environment. A novel approach is needed to meet the challenges of the hyperdimensional compositional space. Recent developments within the fields of information technology can give materials science the tools needed. This Perspective article summarizes the state of the art in the field of multi-component nitride materials, focusing on coatings where solid solution phases with simple crystal structures are formed. Furthermore, it outlines the present research challenges that need to be addressed to move the field forward and suggests that there is a need to combine the traditional knowledge-driven materials science methodology with new data-driven methodologies. The latter would include advanced data-handling with artificial intelligence and machine learning to assist in the evaluation of large, shared datasets from both experimental and theoretical work. Such a change in the methodology will be a challenge but will be needed in order to fully realize the full potential of multi-component (nitride) materials.

High-entropy ceramics: Present status, challenges, and a look forward

“…Gild et al [34] extended the material systems to ultrahigh temperature ceramics (UHTCs) by fabricating high-entropy borides with AlB 2 structure. And soon after, carbides and nitrides in UHTCs category were also synthesized [35,84]. These materials often possess enhanced hardness, ultralow thermal conductivity compared to their binary constituents, which make them suitable for extreme environment applications.…”

Nonstoichiometric Multicomponent Nitride Thin Films

“…Moreover, combining with the concept of the Materials Genome Initiative [21] , the exploration of HEAs has already accelerated in some cases [22] . However, new strategies/approaches are needed to quickly navigate the path between properties that sensitively depend on composition and exquisitely designed microstructures [7,23,24] . For example, applying machine learning algorithms to identify trends in large datasets (from both theoretical simulations [25] and experimental work [26] ) and also to make predictions on HEAs has not yet been fully studied [24,27] .…”

“…The latter one is developing high-entropy materials via an approach by adding one (or more) light element, specifically nitrogen, carbon, boron, oxygen and silicon, leading to the new-generation high entropy materials labelled high-entropy nitrides [32] , carbides [33,34] , borides [35] , oxides [36] and silicides [37] . [24] ).…”

“…Many challenges [24] are still outstanding for the study on multicomponent nitride coating, in particular it is complicated process to achieve near-equal composition and microstructure providing superior performance. High-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS), as a sputtering technique that the achieves a degree of ionization of source materials leading to smooth and dense films (at least binary transition metal nitrides).…”

Prediction of Single‐Phase High‐Entropy Nitrides from First‐Principles Calculations

“…Based on literature review, [ 3 ] eight elements Al, Si, Ti, Zr, V, Nb, Cr, and Mo are selected. These are commonly used elements for HENs in the literature.…”