Enhanced Ms of Fe-rich Fe-B-Cu amorphous/nanocrystalline alloys achieved by annealing treatments.

The effects of Fe content and annealing temperature on the microstructure, thermal stability and soft magnetic properties of Fe-rich Fe 83.5+ x B 15- x Cu 1.5 (x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2) alloys were investigated. The results show that when the Fe content is going up to 85%, alloys still have the capability of forming a single amorphous phase. After that, glass-forming ability (GFA) is weakened and crystalline phase appears. In terms of thermal stability of alloys, the increase in Fe content is beneficial to obtain a larger crystallization temperature interval (Δ T x = 144.4 ℃), which is conducive to the process of heat treatment and the preparation of amorphous/nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials. The optimum annealing treatments (430 ℃×10 min) can yield the high saturation magnetization (M s) of 208 emu/g, which is comparable to the one of alloy Fe-Si 3 wt%. • When the Fe content increase to 85 at%, alloys still have the GFA of forming a single amorphous phase. • T x1 increase with the increase of Fe content, T x2 almost stay still with increase of Fe content. • The soft magnetic properties M s and H c of 208 emu/g and 35 A/m are achieved in Fe 85 B 13.5 Cu 1.5 alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]