---
title: "NIST develops laser-stirring technique to produce high-entropy alloys via 3D printing"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/nist-develops-laser-stirring-technique-to-produce-high-entropy-alloys-via-3d-printing/
date: 2026-06-06
modified: 2026-06-05
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a laser-stirring method for metal additive manufacturing that addresses one of the more persistent obstacles in producing high-entropy..."
categories:
  - "Metal Additive Manufacturing"
  - "Metals"
tags:
  - "insights"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/NIST-01-640x360.jpg
word_count: 506
---

# NIST develops laser-stirring technique to produce high-entropy alloys via 3D printing

Researchers at the [National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/nist-awards-funding-to-astm-international/) have developed a laser-stirring method for metal additive manufacturing that addresses one of the more persistent obstacles in producing high-entropy alloys (HEAs) — getting dissimilar metals to blend evenly at the atomic level as they solidify.

HEAs contain multiple metals in roughly equal proportions, rather than the single base metal with trace additions typical of conventional alloys. That composition gives them performance advantages at elevated temperatures, making them candidates for jet engine and nuclear reactor components. But their production is complicated by the tendency of constituent metals — each with different densities, melting points, and surface tension — to separate into discrete regions as the melt cools.

![NIST develops laser-stirring technique to produce high-entropy alloys via 3D printing](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/NIST-02-340x142.jpg)

“HEAs need to be mixed down to the atomic level,” said Fan Zhang, the NIST physicist who co-led the project. “It takes extra effort to get metals to blend together in those ratios.”

Metal 3D printing offered a potential route around the limitations of casting. “It's difficult to make HEA parts with traditional methods like casting,” Zhang said. “But we believe metal 3D printing could be a solution.”

## Rewriting the laser path

The NIST team's approach modified how the laser moves during [laser powder bed fusion](https://www.voxelmatters.com/unf-secures-nsf-grant-to-tackle-defects-in-laser-powder-bed-fusion/). Rather than tracing conventional straight-line paths across the powder bed, researcher Ho Yeung directed the laser to trace elliptical loop patterns, actively stirring the molten metal pool as it formed.

“Commercial 3D printer software can't make these patterns,” Yeung explained. “They are very limited in how the laser's path can be adjusted, so we had to write the software from scratch.” 

Because the technique requires no new hardware, existing metal 3D printers could in principle be reprogrammed to use it.

The method was tested by combining two materials with markedly different properties: RHEA-19, a dense high-entropy alloy, and a lightweight titanium alloy. To confirm successful mixing, NIST partnered with Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source (APS) — a stadium-sized synchrotron facility producing X-ray beams roughly 500 billion times brighter than those used in dental imaging. The beams allowed researchers to observe atomic-level structural changes in the metal in real time as it transitioned from liquid to solid in under a second.

“The APS is one of the few photon sources in the world powerful enough to allow us to perform this type of measurement,” Zhang said.

## Toward on-demand alloying

Beyond HEAs, the researchers said the stirring technique could support broader on-demand alloying within the printer itself — combining elemental metal powders rather than relying on pre-alloyed feedstock. A single machine stocked with elemental powders could produce a range of alloys, reducing material costs and expanding the range of printable compositions. 

The method could also be used to vary alloy composition continuously within a single part — a jet turbine blade, for example, could be printed from multiple metals without welding joints.

“We want to accelerate alloy making,” said Yeung. “Metal 3D printing has the potential to make parts that used to be impossible.”

The research was [published in the journal ](http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2214860426000278)*Additive Manufacturing*.