Mössbauer study of a Fe-Zr-B-Cu-(Ge, Co) nanocrystalline alloy series

Amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe-Zr-B-Cu alloys with partial substitution of Co for Fe and Ge for B have been studied by Mössbauer spectrometry (MS). The compositional and microstructural dependence of the different hyperfine parameters were related to the results obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and saturation magnetization measurements. Combination of MS and XRD leads to estimate an interface region, of thickness ∼0.6 nm. The magnetic moment per transition metal of the crystalline phase is reduced with respect to binary crystalline alloys due to the existence of the interface.