The influence of Nb atoms on the crystallization process of Fe-B-Nb amorphous alloys

Abstract

The ferromagnetic Fe-based amorphous alloys have been studied due to the attractive properties for soft magnetic applications. Depending on di erent Nb concentration, we studied the formation of crystalline phases in annealed samples of amorphous metallic alloys for Fe80􀀀xB20Nbx (x = 0, 4, 10). The nature of the crystallization products as well as the phase structure were determined by using the Mössbauer spectrometry combined with X-ray di raction and di erential scanning calorimetry results. Substitution of Fe atoms by Nb lead to signi cant changes in hyper ne magnetic eld (Bhf ) distributions in as-quenched amorphous alloys Fe80􀀀xB20Nbx, for x = 10 the minimal value of Bhf is observed. Addition of this element causes shift of crystallization process towards higher temperatures and induces formation of phase complex including the -Fe, Fe2B and Fe3B. Combination of X-ray di raction and Mössbauer spectroscopy is very useful method in studying the structural environment of Fe atoms on a nearest-neighbor length scale.