  Synthesis of high-entropy carbides (HEC) requires high temperatures that can
be provided by electric arc plasma method. However, the formation temperature
of a single-phase sample remains unknown. Moreover, under some temperatures
multi-phase structures can emerge. In this work we developed an approach for a
controllable synthesis of HEC TiZrNbHfTaC5 based on theoretical and
experimental techniques. We used canonical Monte Carlo (CMC) simulations with
the machine learning interatomic potentials to determine the temperature
conditions for the formation of single-phase and multi-phase samples. In full
agreement with the theory, the single-phase sample, produced with electric arc
discharge, was observed at 2000 K. Below 1200 K the sample decomposed into
(Ti-Nb-Ta)C and a mixture of (Zr-Hf-Ta)C, (Zr-Nb-Hf)C, (Zr-Nb)C, and (Zr-Ta)C.
Our results demonstrate the conditions for the formation of HEC and we
anticipate that our approach can pave the way towards targeted synthesis of
multicomponent materials.
