Effect of thermal treatments on the magnetic inhomogeneities distribution in magnetic amorphous wires and microwires

Positive magnetostrictive Fe/sub 77.5/Si/sub 7.5/B/sub 15/ conventional amorphous wires (CAW) 125 (mu)m in diameter and amorphous glass-covered microwires (AGCW) with a metallic core diameter of 35 (mu)m have been annealed below and above their crystallization temperature, which produces precipitation of the (alpha)-Fe(Si) phase within the amorphous matrix. The J-H loop and the temperature dependence of the magnetization and the coercive field reveal the presence of two different magnetic phases in the thermally treated samples. The effect of the thermal treatment on the magnetic domain structure in both CAW and AGCW and its influence on their soft magnetic properties are discussed.