Vapor-Deposited High-Entropy Metallic Glasses

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) at an appropriate temperature has been shown to produce ultrastable glass by the mechanism of surface accelerated diffusion. Recently, high-entropy materials have been discovered to display slower atomic diffusion due to the multicomponent high-entropy effects. How this delayed atomic motion influences the formation and stability of PVD glass remains elusive. Here, we show that PVD high-entropy metallic glasses exhibit distinct behaviors: while the increase in the glass transition temperature is minimal, there is a significant increase in enthalpy. These findings indicate that a wide range of thermal and kinetic properties can be customized by controlling the entropy in PVD glasses, opening up new opportunities for materials design and processing.