Influence of the microstructure on the magnetic properties of Fe86Zr7Nb1Cu1B5 alloy in the states following solidification and following short-duration annealing below the crystallization temperature

This paper investigates the influence of heat treatment on the magnetic properties of alloy samples prepared, in the form of ribbons, using a rapid-cooling method. The adopted isothermal annealing processes were found to lead: to the homogenization of the composition, to relaxation of the structure in the amorphous state, and to nanocrystallization. It has been shown that structural relaxation, occurring within the volume of the tested samples, exerts a large influence on the magnetic properties. Observed changes in the distribution of the induction hyperfine field at the 57Fe nuclei represent direct proof that chemical and topological disorder exists within the volume of the alloy, and the annealing process reduces the internal energy of the entire system. Considering the random anisotropy model for nanocrystalline materials, it can be concluded that the factor that increases, for example, the saturation magnetization is an increase in strength of exchange interactions, which is a measure of the ferromagnetic correlation interactions.