Magnetic and structural characterizations of Fe80Cr10Si10 alloy obtained by mechanical alloying

The Fe80Cr10Si10 alloy was synthesized from the milling of a mixture of pure elements of Fe, Cr, and Si powders for various times up to 15h. Characterizations of the milled powders were carried by X-ray diffraction, a vibratory sample magnetometer at 300 K and Mössbauer spectrometry.It is observed the formation of the α-bcc-Fe (Cr,Si) phase after 3 hours of milling. The grain size decreases with the increase of the milling time and attains 10 nm at 15 hours. At the temperature of 300 K, the saturation magnetization (Ms) decreases with the milling time. Its value at 10 h of milling time is 167.4 emu/g. Also, the coercitive force decreases with the milling time. These variations are related to the microstructural changes and the increase of defects induced by milling processes. The Mössbauer spectroscopy shows two phases. The first one is ferromagnetic and is attributed to α-Fe (Si,Cr) phase. The second phase rich in Cr and Si is paramagnetic.