Room-temperature deformation-induced amorphization in a co-rich multicomponent alloy

The amorphous transition can protect the deformation stability in strong and ductile alloys, however, its activation requires severe conditions. Herein, we induced such amorphization during room-temperature quasistatic uniaxial tensile testing at uniform deformation stages in a non-equiatomic face-centered cubic Co10Cr3Fe3Ni3Al (at.%) multicomponent alloy. The sinking and annihilation effect of amorphous bands significantly sustains continuous plastic deformation and enhances the strength-ductility synergy. The relatively low stacking fault energy (∼28.8 mJ/m2), low lattice friction stress (∼118 MPa) and high Hall-Petch coefficient (∼835 MPa μm0.5) facilitate the localized dislocation accumulation at grain boundaries and deformation twin boundaries, which ultimately triggers the amorphous transition. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT