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Bonds and local atomic environments are crucial descriptors of material properties. They have been used to create design rules and heuristics and as features in machine learning of materials properties. Implementations and algorithms (e.g., ChemEnv and LobsterEnv) for identifying local atomic environments based on geometrical characteristics and quantum-chemical bonding analysis are nowadays available. Fully automatic workflows and analysis tools have been developed to use quantum-chemical bonding analysis on a large scale. The lecture will demonstrate how our tools, that assess local atomic environments and perform automatic bonding analysis, help to develop new machine learning models and a new intuitive understanding of materials.[5,6] Furthermore, the general trend toward automation in density functional-based materials science and some of our recent contributions will be discussed.
Bonds and local atomic environments are crucial descriptors of material properties. They have been used to create design rules and heuristics for materials. More and more frequently, they are used as features in machine learning. Implementations and algorithms (e.g., ChemEnv and LobsterEnv) for identifying these local atomic environments based on geometrical characteristics and quantum-chemical bonding analysis are nowadays available. Fully automatic workflows and analysis tools have been developed to use quantum-chemical bonding analysis on a large scale and for machine-learning approaches. The latter relates to a general trend toward automation in density functional-based materials science. The lecture will demonstrate how our tools, that assess local atomic environments, helped to test and develop heuristics and design rules and an intuitive understanding of materials.
The effect of spin fluctuations on the α(bcc)-γ(fcc)-δ(bcc) structural phase transitions in iron is investigated with a tight-binding (TB) model. The orthogonal d-valent TB model is combined with thermodynamic integration, spin-space averaging, and Hamiltonian Monte Carlo to compute the temperature-dependent free-energy difference between bcc and fcc iron. We demonstrate that the TB model captures experimentally observed phonon spectra of bcc iron at elevated temperatures. Our calculations show that spin fluctuations are crucial for both the α−γ and γ−δ phase transitions but they enter through different mechanisms. Spin fluctuations impact the α−γ phase transition mainly via the magnetic/electronic free-energy difference between bcc and fcc iron. The γ−δ phase transition, in contrast, is influenced by spin fluctuations only indirectly via the spin-lattice coupling. Combining the two mechanisms, we obtain both the α−γ and γ−δ phase transitions with our TB model. The calculated transition temperatures are in very good agreement with experimental values.
The huge atomic heterogeneity of high-entropy materials along with a possibility to unravel the behavior of individual components at the atomic scale suggests a great promise in designing new compositionally complex systems with the desired multi-functionality. Herein, we apply multi-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD)) to probe the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of all individual constituents in the single-phase face-centered cubic (fcc)-structured nanocrystalline thin film of Cr20Mn26Fe18Co19Ni17 (at.%) high-entropy alloy on the local scale. The local crystallographic ordering and component-dependent lattice displacements were explored within the reverse Monte Carlo approach applied to EXAFS spectra collected at the K absorption edges of several constituents at room temperature. A homogeneous short-range fcc atomic environment around the absorbers of each type with very similar statistically averaged interatomic distances (2.54–2.55 Å) to their nearest-neighbors and enlarged structural relaxations of Cr atoms were revealed. XANES and XMCD spectra collected at the L2,3 absorption edges of all principal components at low temperature from the oxidized and in situ cleaned surfaces were used to probe the oxidation states, the changes in the electronic structure, and magnetic behavior of all constituents at the surface and in the sub-surface volume of the film. The spin and orbital magnetic moments of Fe, Co, and Ni components were quantitatively evaluated. The presence of magnetic phase transitions and the co-existence of different magnetic phases were uncovered by conventional magnetometry in a broad temperature range.
The superior properties of high-entropy multi-functional materials are strongly connected with their atomic heterogeneity through many different local atomic interactions. The detailed element-specific studies on a local scale can provide insight into the primary arrangements of atoms in multicomponent systems and benefit to unravel the role of individual components in certain macroscopic properties of complex compounds. Herein, multi-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy combined with reverse Monte Carlo simulations was used to explore a homogeneity of the local crystallographic ordering and specific structure relaxations of each constituent in the equiatomic single-phase facecentered cubic CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloy at room temperature. Within the considered fitting approach, all five elements of the alloy were found to be distributed at the nodes of the fcc lattice without any signatures of the additional phases at the atomic scale and exhibit very close statistically averaged interatomic distances (2.54 – 2.55 Å) with their nearest-neighbors. Enlarged structural displacements were found solely for Cr atoms. The macroscopic magnetic properties probed by conventional magnetometry demonstrate no opening of the hysteresis loops at 5 K and illustrate a complex character of the long-range magnetic order after field-assisted cooling in ± 5 T. The observed magnetic behavior is assigned to effects related to structural relaxations of Cr. Besides, the advantages and limitations of the reverse Monte Carlo approach to studies of multicomponent systems like high-entropy alloys are highlighted.
Modern design of superior multi-functional alloys composed of several principal components requires in-depth studies of their local structure for developing desired macroscopic properties. Herein, peculiarities of atomic arrangements on the local scale and electronic states of constituent elements in the single-phase face-centered cubic (fcc)- and body-centered cubic (bcc)-structured high-entropy Alx-CrFeCoNi alloys (x = 0.3 and 3, respectively) are explored by element-specific X-ray absorption spectroscopy in hard and soft X-ray energy ranges. Simulations based on the reverse Monte Carlo approach allow to perform a simultaneous fit of extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra recorded at K absorption edges of each 3d constituent and to reconstruct the local environment within the first coordination shells of absorbers with high precision. The revealed unimodal and bimodal distributions of all five elements are in agreement with structure-dependent magnetic properties of studied alloys probed by magnetometry. A degree of surface atoms oxidation uncovered by soft X-rays suggests different kinetics of oxide formation for each type of constituents and has to be taken into account. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism technique employed at L2,3 absorption edges of transition metals demonstrates reduced magnetic moments of 3d metal constituents in the sub-Surface region of in situ cleaned fcc-structured Al0.3-CrFeCoNi compared to their bulk values. Extended to nanostructured versions of multicomponent alloys, such studies would bring new insights related to effects of high entropy mixing on low dimensions.