  Stacking fault energy (SFE) is an essential parameter for characterizing
mechanical properties. However, in high entropy alloys (HEAs), the local
chemical environment varies significantly across different stacking fault
planes, resulting in a substantial fluctuation of SFE values rather than a
unique value, which prohibits the prediction of the local SFE. Herein, we
proposed an effective descriptor based on the local concentration ratio near
stacking fault to quantitatively predict the local SFE of refractory HEAs. We
find that the role of a given element in determining SFE strongly depends on
its valence-electron number relative to other components and the contribution
of its s- and d-electrons to its cohesive properties, which can be understood
in the framework of the tight-binding model. Notably, the descriptor not only
unifies the local nature of SFE from simple alloys to HEAs but also helps to
quickly design HEAs as the involved parameters are easily accessible.
