Influence of crystal structure on helium-induced tendril formation in an FeCoCrNiV high-entropy alloy

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are a relatively new class of metal alloys composed of several principal elements, usually at (near) equiatomic ratios. Our goal is to understand how such a multicomponent alloy behaves under irradiation. The FeCoCrNiV HEA exhibits both a face-centred cubic (fcc) and a body-centred tetragonal (bct) phase, thus allowing us to specifically study the influence of crystalline structure at very similar chemical composition. We irradiated both phases with a focussed He beam provided by a helium ion microscope (HIM) at temperatures between room temperature and 500∘C. The irradiation fluence was varied between 6× 1017 ions/cm2 and 1× 1020 ions/cm2. High-resolution images of the irradiated areas were taken with the same HIM. Selected irradiated areas were additionally studied by TEM in combination with EDXS. Under irradiation, pores start to be generated in the material with pore sizes differing significantly between the two phases. At higher fluences and above a critical temperature, a tendril structure forms in both phases. We found that the critical temperature depends on the phase and is lower for fcc. TEM images reveal that the tendrils span the whole depth of the irradiated area, and are accompanied by bubbles of various sizes. Scanning TEM-based EDXS of these structures indicates a He-induced change in composition.