Theory of directional order and induced anisotropy energy in ferromagnetic amorphous systems

A theory is proposed for the anisotropy energy induced by magnetic annealing in amorphous materials characterized by the presence of only one kind of transition metal atom and metalloids such as phosphorus and boron. Since no relevant effects seem to be attributable either to magnetic atom pair orientation in different local environments or to directional ordering of metalloid atom pairs, the assumption is made that the major part of induced anisotropy energy in these systems can be attributed to the formation of monoatomic directional ordering of single metalloid atoms by "interstitial" diffusion within holes present in the amorphous structure.