The relationship between microstructure and magnetic properties of Si-containing permalloy strips fabricated by melt drag casting

The effects of Si addition on microstructure and magnetic properties of permalloy strips fabricated by the melt drag casting method were investigated. Permalloy strips with 200 mm width were successfully fabricated by melt drag casting followed by homogenizing, cold rolling and annealing. In order to understand the relationship between microstructure and magnetic properties, we measured permeability and analyzed microstructure as a function of Si content by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The effective permeability went through a maximum value in 2 at.% Si added permalloy strips and then decreased with increasing Si content. Increasing Si content enlarged grain size, which resulted in improvement of permeability. Permalloy strips with 5 at.% Si, however, showed drastically reduced permeability than that of 2 at.% Si added ones notwithstanding their coarse grain size and little oxide inclusion. The degradation of permeability in over-added Si above 2 at.% could be explained by formation of Ni3Fe ordered phase, which increase magneto-crystalline anisotropy.