Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42642484›Full record

ArticleNature materials2026

Crystal nucleation and growth in high-entropy alloys revealed by atomic electron tomography.

Yakun Yuan, Saman Moniri, Yao Yang, Jihan Zhou, Andrew Yuan, Dennis S Kim, Yongsoo Yang, Chenyang Li, Kun Luo, Qi An and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature materials, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Yakun YuanDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7384-9767
Saman MoniriDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0723-5091
Yao YangDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2896-9046
Jihan ZhouDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-8069-0356
Andrew YuanDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6685-2060
Dennis S KimDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5707-2609
Yongsoo YangDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8654-302X
Chenyang LiDepartment of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4193-2811
Kun LuoDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Qi AnDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4838-6232
Wei ChenDepartment of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1135-7721
Peter ErciusNational Center for Electron Microscopy, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6762-9976
Jianwei MiaoDepartment of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. j.miao@ucla.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4033-3945

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

High-entropy alloys combine multiple principal elements and can exhibit exceptional mechanical properties and catalytic activity. However, how they crystallize remains poorly understood because early nuclei are small, transient and chemically complex. Here we advance atomic electron tomography to determine the three-dimensional atomic structures and local chemical order of 8,160 high- and medium-entropy alloy nuclei. We find that nucleation proceeds through gradient ordering, in which structural order is highest at the core, decreases smoothly towards the boundary and is coupled to local chemical order. Most nuclei coalesce with nearly aligned crystal lattices, whereas a minority form twin boundaries. We develop the gradient nucleation pathways model, which generalizes classical nucleation theory by incorporating spatially varying structural order within each nucleus. The model captures diffuse, partially ordered nuclei, recovers classical nucleation theory in the sharp-interface limit and reveals multiple intermediate states. These results provide an atomistic framework for understanding crystal nucleation and growth across a broad range of materials.

Identifiers

PMID42642484

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.