Magnetic properties of a non-equilibrium Al(Fe-Ni) alloy powder by rod-milling and chemical leaching

In this paper, the magnetic properties of non-equilibrium nanocrystalline phase by chemical leaching of as-milled Al0.6(Fe0.5Ni0.5)0.4 powder is reported. X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry (SQUID) were used to characterize the as-milled powder and leached specimens. The saturation magnetization Ms decreased approximately 15 times than that of the powder before milling. Magnetization sharply increased to approximately 580 °C, when cooling of the specimen from 750 °C. The broad peaks of the magnetization shifted towards a lower-temperature side and the peak intensity increased, with increasing external field. The irreversibility between the field-cooling (FC) and zero-field cooling (ZFC) for the specimen begins greatly above the wide ZFC magnetization maximum and occurs at relatively high temperature. The magnetization is higher at lower temperatures, with increasing external field.