Structural and Phase Evolution upon Annealing of Fe₇₆Si_9−xB₁₀P₅Mo<i>_x</i> (<i>x</i> = 0, 1, 2 and 3) Alloys

Abstract

Alloying elements play an important role in adjusting the magnetic and thermal properties of Fe-based amorphous alloys. In this work, the effect of Mo addition on the thermal stability, structural evolution, and magnetic properties of Fe76Si9B10P5 metallic glass was studied. The study revealed that the substitution of a small amount of Mo (1 at.%) for Si enhances the glass-forming ability (GFA) but reduces the thermal stability of the alloy, causing a reduction of the supercooled liquid region. Substitution of up to 3 at.% Mo for Si lowers the Curie temperature from 677 to 550 K and the saturation magnetization drops from 160 to 138 Am2/kg. The structural evolution was evaluated by annealing the glassy samples at different temperatures, revealing that the crystallization proceeds in multiple steps, beginning with the formation of different iron borides (FeB, Fe2B, FeB2 and Fe23B6) followed by transformation to a mixture of more stable phases.

Keywords

• metallic glasses
• thermal analysis
• phase transformation
• magnetic properties