Atomic structure and magnetic properties of Fe–Nb–B metallic glasses

The short-range atomic order of ternary Fe–Nb–B metallic glasses has been studied by X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and reverse Monte-Carlo simulation. The similarities and differences in the local structure of the Fe–Nb–B glasses and their crystalline counterparts are revealed. The composition dependences for the Curie temperature of the Fe–Nb–B glasses, which increases by substitution of boron for iron at constant niobium content and decreases by substitution of niobium for iron at constant boron concentration, are discussed in the frame of the coordination-bond model.