High-entropy alloys (HEAs) can have either high strength or high ductility, and a simultaneous achievement of both still constitutes a tough challenge. The inferior castability and compositional segregation of HEAs are also obstacles for their technological applications. To tackle these problems, here we proposed a novel strategy to design HEAs using the eutectic alloy concept, i.e. to achieve a microstructure composed of alternating soft fcc and hard bcc phases. As a manifestation of this concept, an AlCoCrFeNi_2.1 (atomic portion) eutectic high-entropy alloy (EHEA) was designed. The as-cast EHEA possessed a fine lamellar fcc/B2 microstructure, and showed an unprecedented combination of high tensile ductility and high fracture strength at room temperature. The excellent mechanical properties could be kept up to 700°C. This new alloy design strategy can be readily adapted to large-scale industrial production of HEAs with simultaneous high fracture strength and high ductility.

The stability of topological close-packed (TCP) phases were found to be well related to the average value of the d-orbital energy level \( \overline{Md} \) for most reported high entropy alloys (HEAs). Excluding some HEAs that contain high levels of the elements aluminum and vanadium, the results of this study indicated that the TCP phases form at \( \overline{Md} \) > 1.09. This criterion, as a semi-empirical method, can play a key role in designing and preparing HEAs with high amounts of transitional elements.

To address the trade-off between strength and electrical conductivity, we propose a strategy: introducing precipitated particles into a structure composed of deformation twins. A Cu-0.3%Zr alloy was designed to verify our strategy. Zirconium was dissolved into a copper matrix by solution treatment prior to cryorolling and precipitated in the form of Cu₅Zr from copper matrix via a subsequent aging treatment. The microstructure evolutions of the processed samples were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis, and the mechanical and physical behaviours were evaluated through tensile and electrical conductivity tests. The results demonstrated that superior tensile strength (602.04 MPa) and electrical conductivity (81.4% IACS) was achieved. This strategy provides a new route for balancing the strength and electrical conductivity of copper alloys, which can be developed for large-scale industrial application.