In this study, (Al_0.5CrFeNiTi_0.25)N_x high-entropy films are prepared by a reactive direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering at different N₂ flow rates on silicon wafers. It is found that the structure of (Al_0.5CrFeNiTi_0.25)N_x high-entropy films is amorphous, with x = 0. It transforms from amorphous to a face-centered-cubic (FCC) structure with the increase of nitrogen content, while the bulk Al_0.5CrFeNiTi_0.25 counterpart prepared by casting features a body-centered-cubic (BCC) phase structure. The phase formation can be explained by the atomic size difference (δ). Lacking nitrogen, δ is approximately 6.4% for the five metal elements, which is relatively large and might form a BCC or ordered-BCC structure, while the metallic elements in this alloy system all have a trend to form nitrides like TiN, CrN, AlN, and FeN. Therefore, nitride components are becoming very similar in size and structure and solve each other easily, thus, an FCC (Al-Cr-Fe-Ni-Ti)N solid solution forms. The calculated value of δ is approximately 23% for this multicomponent nitride solid solution. The (Al_0.5CrFeNiTi_0.25)N_x films achieve a pronounced hardness and a Young’s modulus of 21.45 GPa and 253.8 GPa, respectively, which is obviously much higher than that of the as-cast Al_0.5CrFeNiTi_0.25 bulk alloys.

Additive manufacturing allows for the fabrication of large-sized metallic glasses with complex geometries, which overcomes the size limitation due to limited glass-forming ability. To investigate the effect of synthesis parameters on the Mg-based metallic glasses, Mg₆₅Cu₂₀Zn₅Y₁₀ was fabricated by laser-based powder bed fusion under different scanning speeds and laser powers. For high energy density, the samples showed severe crystallization and macrocracks, while for low energy density, the samples contained pore defects and unfused powders. Three-dimensionally printed samples were used for the compression test, and the mechanical properties were analyzed by Weibull statistics. Our work identifies proper parameters for 3D printing Mg-based metallic glasses, which provide a necessary, fundamental basis for the fabrication of 3D-printed Mg-based metallic glass materials with improved performance.