Multi-component thin films and coatings

Multi-component thin films and coatings (MCTFCs) with stable structure and excellent capability are gradually being applied to more complex extreme environment. In the review paper, we summary the recent research progress of MCTFCs and build the comprehensive datasets from composition, experiment condition, microstructure and macro-properties. By searching the keywords, more than 30,000 relevant articles are found, including at least 600 systems of MCTFCs and involving 73 elements. Statistical analysis shows that the researched system is evolving from simple 4-element to 12-element to composite materials, and the research focus are extending from mechanical properties to chemical properties to medical and industrial applications. The results of comparing with high entropy alloys show that the theories of distinguishing solid solution phase and other structure are only explicable for part MCTFCs. Further, the building multivariate datasets that takes multiple factors into consideration will facilitate the development of optimal MCTFCs.