Tribo-mechanical properties of CrNbTiMoZr high-entropy alloy film synthesized by direct current magnetron sputtering

The deposition parameters of high-entropy alloy films significantly influence their performance due to effective control of their microstructure. Thus, these parameters have become a research hotspot. In this study, CrNbTiMoZr high-entropy alloy films of amorphous or nanocrystalline solid solution were synthesized by direct current magnetron sputtering on silicon wafers and 304 stainless steel under different substrate bias voltages. The films' microstructure and tribo-mechanical properties were studied in detail. Results showed that the microstructure of films transformed from columnar structure to featureless with increased substrate bias voltage. In the nanoindentation test, the film deposited at −150 V exhibited the highest hardness of 9.7 GPa. Nevertheless, the CrNbTiMoZr films displayed excellent tribological properties under low bias voltage. Overall, our findings can guide the design of other novel high-entropy alloy films. •CrNbTiMoZr high-entropy alloy films were synthesized by DC magnetron sputtering.•Microstructure change from columnar structure to featureless with increased bias voltage.•The maximum of hardness about 9.7 GPa was reached at a bias of −150 V.•The films exhibited excellent tribological properties under low bias voltage.