Soft magnetic properties and crystallization behavior of FeSiBPCuNb nanocrystalline alloys
摘要
Fe–Si–B–P–Cu alloys with high Fe content have excellent soft magnetic properties (SMPs), yet they have low amorphous formation ability (AFA) and the thermodynamic behavior is unstable. The addition of Nb is an effective way to improve the SMPs of Fe–Si–B–P–Cu nanocrystalline alloys and to overcome the harsh nanocrystalline technique due to its nature of rapid crystallization kinetics. Here, the role of Nb addition on structure and magnetic properties of Fe81.3Si6B8P4Cu0.7 nanocrystalline alloy was investigated, and the underlying mechanism was discussed in term of the crystallization kinetics. It was found that the inclusion of Nb significantly raises the nucleation activation energy (Ea) of Fe-(B, P) phase and enhances the thermal stability of the alloy system, easing the harsh nanocrystalline technique of NANOMET alloys. The addition of Nb can facilitate the formation of dense, homogeneous, and fine-grained α-Fe nanocrystals, thereby contributing to excellent SMPs of the nanocrystalline alloys. As a result, comprehensively excellent SMPs, including coercivity (Hc) of 4.52 A/m, effective permeability (µe) of 15,848.6 (at 1 kHz), and saturation magnetic induction (Bs) of 1.68 T after annealed at 793 K were achieved in Fe81.3Si4.4B8P4Cu0.7Nb1.6 nanocrystalline alloy.