Effect of annealing on saturation magnetization in deformed Cu–Fe alloys with transformed Fe particles

The influence of the Fe solubility difference on the saturation magnetization of the Cu–Fe alloy was investigated. Magnetic measurements of an annealed Cu–0.85mass% Fe and Cu–1.60mass% Fe alloys with fully transformed Fe particles have been conducted for this purpose. The saturation magnetization of the aged and deformed specimens was raised further by annealing at 973 K after deformation. It appears that the increase in saturation magnetization results from absorption of dissolved Fe atoms by the α-Fe particles during the annealing. The solubility of Fe in Cu at 973 K in the presence of γ-Fe and α-Fe was determined to be 0.46 and 0.38 mass%, respectively.