Microforging Effect on the Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of FeSiB-based Nanoflakes

The effect of microforging on the processing of nanocrystalline FeSiB alloy flakes was studied in terms of microstructure and magnetic properties. The flakes microforged from amorphous precursor showed submicron thicknesses with the crystal size of about 15 nm. The crystallite size during microforging was primarily determined by plastic deformation rather than fracturing and agglomeration. Unlike the general trend of coercivity reduction with annealing, the coercivity of the nanocrystalline flakes was slightly increased with increasing annealing temperature, which can be explained with the diffusion anisotropy of the magnetic moments resulting from the formation of Fe-atoms pairs. The magnetic remanence (Mr) of the planar nanocrystalline flakes was measured to be about 26% of the saturation magnetization (Ms), a significant increase from 2% of the initial amorphous precursor.