Strategies for enhancing multi-properties of medium- and high-entropy soft magnetic alloys

Abstract

Traditional soft magnetic alloys have long suffered from a performance trade-off, where enhancing magnetic properties often comes at the expense of mechanical and other properties, limiting their applications in high-efficiency power industries and advanced electronic systems. The design concept of medium- and high-entropy alloys (M/HEAs) offers possibilities for breaking this trade-off. By leveraging multi-principal-element compositions and tailorable microstructures, medium- and high-entropy soft magnetic alloys (M/HE-SMAs) hold promise for integrating superior soft magnetic properties with exceptional mechanical strength-ductility synergy, high electrical resistivity, good thermal stability, and excellent corrosion resistance. This article discusses the design strategies for achieving synergistic enhancements of the multiple properties in M/HE-SMAs, aiming to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of the recent progress in the development of high-performance M/HE-SMAs. A variety of strategies, e.g., blending multiple ferromagnetic and even non-ferromagnetic elements into solid solution, triggering local chemical orders in crystalline materials, tailoring nanoprecipitates, controlling grain size, and engineering dual/multi-phase structures, are summarized and discussed. The cooperative interactions of the different strategies or mechanisms are also considered. Some potential research directions for further development and practical applications of high-performance M/HE-SMAs are proposed.