Investigation the Structural and Magnetic Properties of FINEMET Type Alloy Produced by Mechanical Alloying

Abstract

In this research, FINEMET alloy with composition of Fe73.5Si13.5B9Nb3Cu1was produced by mechanical alloying from elemental powders. The effect of milling time on the magnetic and structural properties of alloy has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometery. The results showed that milling for 53 hr leads to the formation of Fe supersaturated solid solution which includes Si, B and Nb atoms with mean crystallite size of ~30 nm. The shift of the main peak of Fe to the higher angles indicated that Si and B atoms dissolve in the Fe solid solution, at primary stage of mechanical alloying, up to the 42 hr while Nb atoms dissolve at final stages. The magnetization of milled powder for 53 hr was 173.7 emu/g, almost the same as that of the melt-spun ribbon. In addition; the coercivity reached to 15.5 Oe after 53 hr of milling. The higher value of coercivity in mechanically alloyed samples is attributed to strains induce to the structure during milling and the lack of amorphous phase and exchange interaction between nanograins.