Phase and magnetic studies of the high-energy alloyed Ni–Fe

• The mechanically alloyed Ni–Fe system is studied by a number of methods.
• Three-stage alloying results in a formation of Ni3Fe.
• Magnetic properties and particle interactions reflect the changes in composition.

A report on the systematic study of the changes in the phase composition, morphology, and magnetic properties of the Fe–Ni alloy is presented. Structure studies based on the X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy reveal that the step-wise alloying by high energy ball milling for time up to 6000 min proceeds in three stages: (i) solid state diffusion of Ni into bcc-Fe, (ii) the ongoing diffusion of Ni into bcc-Fe and simultaneous diffusion of Fe into fcc-Ni, and (iii) structural transformation of bcc-FeNi into fcc-NiFe and final formation of the Ni3Fe phase. Except for ferromagnetic phases, a small contribution of the paramagnetic component is detected by Mössbauer spectrometry. The alloying process is accompanied by an initial rapid decrease in crystallite size followed by a sluggish decrease down to the mean final size of 12 nm. The changes in the grain size and phase compositions are reflected in magnetic characteristics. The results yielded from the Henkel graphs confirm a dominance of the negative particle interactions.