Design of High-Entropy Ceramics with IGZO-Based Compounds for Electroceramics Applications

Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) is a ceramic material used in optoelectronic technology, having essential results such as high efficiency in energy consumption and better image quality in display devices. On the other hand, high-entropy ceramics (HECs) are an important route to design new and novel functional materials, and whose physical properties need to be explored. In this work, it is studied the HECs with IGZO-based compounds synthesized using conventional solid-state method. Several trivalent and divalent cations are substituted in the layered crystal structure of IGZO, and the equilibrium of phases is studied under different compositions and high temperatures. The classic quenching method is used, cooling in air from 1400 °C to room temperature. Phase equilibrium was monitored using X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to reveal microstructure and cation distribution with elemental mapping. In addition, once the single phase with high-entropy composition is obtained, the dielectric properties are explored to analyze their possible electroceramic applications.