Instabilities in crystallization and magnetic behavior of Fe–Si–B amorphous alloys

Experimental evidence is presented to support the idea that the boron content, which influences the Fe–Fe pair distances and the electronic structure, determines the magnetic properties of amorphous Fe–Si–B alloys. Magnetic moment variations are ascribed to the local environment of the iron atoms and to the electronic structure of the amorphous Fe–Si–B alloys while the Tc changes are due to the increase of the Fe–Fe pair distances. The mean atomic magnetic moments per iron atoms were extrapolated at 0 K. Radial Distribution Analysis combined with Rietveld refinement achieved an estimation of Fe–Fe distances in amorphous and partially crystallized specimens, while the peculiarities in crystallization were revealed by HRTEM.