Atomic volumes and magnetic properties of melt-quenched (Zr, Hf)10(Fe, Co, Ni)90 type metastable alloys

Density measurements were performed on melt-quenched (Zr, Hf)10(Fe, Co, Ni)90 type metastable alloys and were compared to previously reported data. For the amorphous Zr-Fe and Zr-Co alloys, a sufficient amount of data allowed us to establish a linear composition dependence of the average atomic volume with a common atomic volume of Zr for both Fe and Co. This Zr atomic volume was 21.50 Å3 atom−1 in contrast to the corresponding value (23.50 Å3 atom−1) deduced previously for Zr-rich compositions of Zr-(Fe, Co, Ni) glasses. For the Zr-Fe metallic glasses, some conclusions could be drawn concerning the observed unusual magnetic behaviour of these alloys on the basis of a comparison of the average atomic volume of Fe in the amorphous state to the critical Fe atomic volume separating the two magnetic states of face-centered cubic Fe.