Oxidation of thin film binary entropy alloys

In recent years, material science has put significant effort into understanding the behavior of multiple principle element alloys (MPEAs), notably the category high entropy alloys (HEAs). Most of these studies have been conducted on the micro to macro scales, yet the nanoscale remains relatively unexplored. Additionally, investigating the structural changes caused by amorphous oxidation for thin film MPEAs is particularly new, with no fundamental theory having been found. By studying ambient oxidation of thin film binary entropy alloys, we show how the Hume-Rothery rules affect the oxide formation and in particular the requirement of an increased temperature prior to the formation of polycrystalline oxides for these systems, compared to their single metal counterparts.