Influence of extreme chemical disorder on the magnetic properties of spinel high-entropy oxides

High-entropy oxides (HEOs) are a new class of ceramic novel materials that include 5 or more transition metals (TMs) in their crystal lattice. HEOs with a cubic spinel structure have become a versatile platform for designing magnetic materials, with fine-tuning capabilities on their magnetic properties via cation substitution. However, research on HEOs is still in its early stages and the effects of extreme configurational disorder on the magnetic properties of these materials are yet to be determined. Here I will present how the high-entropy nature of HEOs, together with the intrinsic symmetries of the spinel structure will always lead to a ferrimagnetic ordering. Through temperature dependent powder neutron diffraction (PND), low-temperature SQUID magnetometry, and high temperature VSM magnetometry, we show that in the single-phase spinel HEOs with TMs Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni, we are able to control the overall magnetic behavior and energy landscape via intrinsic disorder induced from the high entropy states.