Crystallization of the amorphous Fe80Zr12B8 alloy under controlled heating

The devitrification process of amorphous Fe80Zr12B8 alloy ribbons were studied under controlled thermal conditions. The major crystallization event during continuous heating with differential scanning calorimetory (DSC) is dictated by diffusion controlled growth and the associated atom mobility of the slow diffusing species Zr. The existence of prior nano-crystals formed by pre-annealing below the crystallization temperature had little effect on the major crystallization temperature. The crystallization sequence during heating was: amorphous → amorphous + α-Fe + Fe3Zr(B) → amorphous + α-Fe + Fe3Zr(B) + Fe2Zr. Different from previous findings in alloys of lower Zr and B contents, the peak for the crystallization of the α-Fe phase alone is missing in the DSC traces of this alloy.