The atomic structure, magnetic properties and bending ductility of a novel Fe-P-C-B-Si amorphous alloy investigated by experiments and ab initio molecular dynamics

Abstract

The atomic structure, soft magnetic property and bending ductility of Fe-P-C-B-Si amorphous alloys via the change of Si content were investigated. The minor and appropriate Si addition can increase the Curie temperature and saturated magnetization (Ms) effectively. Compared with the 0 at% Si, the Ms of Fe85P10C2B2Si1 and Fe85P9C2B2Si2 can be enhanced up to 1.58 T and 1.61 T, respectively, which is related to the increase of the total magnetic moments analyzed via ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation. Furthermore, the Ms of the annealed amorphous alloys can be continued to increase and the highest Ms of the Fe85P9C2B2Si2 amorphous alloys can reach up to 1.76 T and the lowest coercivity (Hc) can be reduced to 5.15 A/m after the ribbons were annealed at 627 K. These phenomena are related to the release of inner stress and the formation of α-Fe clusters in amorphous alloys caused by annealing. All ribbons remain good bending ductility annealed at optimal temperature (627 K) determined by Ms and Hc. The combination of high Ms, low Hc, good bending ductility after annealing as well as low production cost and high manufacturability makes the Fe-P-C-B-Si amorphous alloys with high Fe content promising as complement and even replacement of the Si-Fe alloys in magnetic and electric devices.