Comprehensive investigation of crystallographic, spin-electronic and magnetic structure of (Co0.2Cr0.2Fe0.2Mn0.2Ni0.2)3O4: Unraveling the suppression of configuration entropy in high entropy oxides

High entropy oxides (HEOs) are a rapidly emerging class of functional materials consisting of multiple principal cations. The original paradigm of HEOs assumes cationic occupations with the highest possible configurational entropy allowed by the composition and crystallographic structure. However, the fundamental question remains on the actual degree of configurational disorder in HEOs, especially, in systems with low enthalpy barriers for cation anti-site mixing. Considering the experimental limitations due to the presence of multiple principal cations in HEOs, here we utilize a robust and cross-referenced characterization approach using soft X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, neutron powder diffraction and SQUID magnetometry to study the competition between crystal field stabilization energy and configurational entropy governing the cation occupation in a spinel HEO (S-HEO), (Co0.2Cr0.2Fe0.2Mn0.2Ni0.2)3O4. In contrast to the previous studies, the derived complete structural and spin-electronic model, (Co0.6Fe0.4)(Cr0.3Fe0.1Mn0.3Ni0.3)2O4, highlights a significant deviation from the hitherto assumed paradigm of entropy-driven non-preferential distribution of cations in HEOs. An immediate correlation of this result can be drawn with bulk as well as the local element specific magnetic properties, which are intrinsically dictated by cationic occupations in spinels. The real local lattice picture presented here provides an alternate viewpoint on ionic arrangement in HEOs, which is of fundamental interest for predicting and designing their structure-dependent functionalities.