Microstructural signatures of dislocation avalanches in a high-entropy alloy

Here, we trace in situ the slip-line formation and morphological signature of dislocation avalanches in a high-entropy alloy with the aim of revealing their microstructural degree of localization. Correlating the intermittent microplastic events with their corresponding slip-line patterns allows defining two main event types, one of which is linked to the formation of new slip lines, whereas the other one involves reactivation of already existing slip lines. The formation of new slip lines reveals statistically larger and faster avalanches. The opposite tendency is seen for avalanches involving reactivation of already existing slip lines. The combination of both these types of events represents the highest degree of spatial avalanche delocalization that spans the entire sample, forming a group of events that determine the truncation length scale of the truncated power-law scaling. These observations link the statistics of dislocation avalanches to a microstructural observable.