Fe-Based Nanocomposite Formed by Thermal Treatment of Rapid-Quenched Fe81B13Si4C2 Alloy

Abstract

Amorphous alloys have been a focus of considerable scientific interest, both from fundamental and practical point of view, ever since the first of its kind (Al75Si25) was produced by Klement, Willens and Duwez in 1960 (Klement et al., 1960). It has been shown that the amorphous alloys have features that are different from those of crystalline alloys in both alloy compositions and atomic configurations. This enabled the exhibition of various characteristics which were not obtained for conventional crystalline alloys. Their soft ferromagnetic properties (saturation magnetization, high permeability, low coercivity and loss), high corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties make them suitable for use in a variety of applications, such as power devices, information handling technology, magnetic sensors, anti-theft security systems and construction materials (Minic et al., 2007). Since amorphous alloys are meta-stable, elevated temperature or prolonged performance can induce a transformation into a crystalline state, which could lead to a loss of their advantageous physical properties limiting them to single-use applications. Commercial soft magnetic nanocrystalline materials have recently been successfully obtained by crystallization of amorphous precursors. Materials like this are characterized by a microstructure of nanocrystals embedded into an amorphous matrix, exhibiting superior soft magnetic and mechanical properties to both amorphous and crystalline magnetic alloys (Blagojevic et al., 2011; Minic et al., 2011a). This dependence of functional properties on microstructure can be used to produce functional materials with tailored properties (Maricic et al., 2012).