Electronic structure–property relationship in an Al0.5TiZrPdCuNi high-entropy alloy

The valence band (VB) structure of an Al0.5TiZrPdCuNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) obtained using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has been compared to that recently calculated by Odbadrakh et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 126, 095104 (2019)]. Both the experimental and theoretical VBs show a split-band structure, typical for alloys consisting of the early (TE) and late (TL) transition metals. Accordingly, several electronic structure (ES) properties of this alloy, both in the glassy and crystalline state, are compared with those of similar TE-TL alloys. The comparison shows a strong effect of alloying with Al on the density of states at the Fermi level, N(EF), and on the magnetic susceptibility of Al0.5TiZrPdCuNi HEA, similar to that in conventional glassy alloys, such as Zr-Cu-Al ones. Despite some similarity in the theoretical and experimental density of states of the VBs, there are significant differences between them, which should be taken into account in any future studies of ES in HEAs and other compositionally complex alloys.