Mössbauer study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses irradiated by swift heavy ions at temperatures 100 and 300 K

The effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on ferromagnetic metallic glasses Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ and Fe₇₈Si₉B₁₃ has been studied. The ion beams used are 100 MeV ¹²⁷I and 180 MeV ¹⁹⁷Au. The specimens were irradiated at fluences ranging from 3 × 10¹² to 1.5 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The irradiations have been carried out at temperatures 100 and 300 K. The magnetic moments are sensitive towards the irradiation conditions such as irradiation temperature and stopping power of incident ion beam. The irradiation-induced effects have been monitored, by using Mössbauer spectroscopy. The modifications in magnetic anisotropy and hyperfine magnetic field distributions, as an effect of different irradiation temperature as well as different stopping power have been discussed. After irradiation, all the samples remain amorphous and magnetic anisotropy considerably changes from its original in-plane direction. The results show enhancement in magnetic anisotropy in the specimen irradiated at 100 K, as compared to that of irradiated at 300 K. It is expected that at low temperature, the stresses produced in the material would remain un-annealed, compared to the samples irradiated at room temperature and therefore, the modification in magnetic anisotropy would be enhanced. A distribution of hyperfine magnetic field, of the samples irradiated at low temperature, show a small but distinct peak at ～?11 Tesla, indicating Fe-B pairing.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy of creep-annealed soft magnetic amorphous alloys

To produce magnetic anisotropy in amorphous alloys, stress-annealing above the Curie temperature was substituted for the common thermomagnetic treatment. A tilting three-angle Mössbauer method was applied to see the changes of the⁵⁷Fe hyperfine field directions and intensities due to this procedure. The resulting pictures of the domain orientations distribution in the Fe₈₀Cr₂B₁₄Si₄ and Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ amorphous alloys are compared with the measured magnetic anisotropies and domain structures.     

Long-term low-temperature ageing of amorphous alloys

Long term stability of the coercivity and⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer parameters (magnitude and average orientation of hyperfine induction) at ca 150 °C was tested at three TM-M type amorphous alloys (Fe₈₃B₁₇, Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Co₆₆Fe₅Cr₇Si₈B₁₄) up to 5000 hrs. Correlations between the Mössbauer and magnetic quantities were found and their possible causes are discussed.     

Mössbauer study of long time annealed Fe30Ni44Cr4Mo2Si5B15 metallic glasses

The influence of structural relaxation caused by long time annealing on magnetic properties of Fe₃₀Ni₄₄Cr₄Mo₂B₁₅Si₅ metallic glasses is investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and by magnetization measurements. Remarkable hyperfine field distribution shift to the high field region and increase of the value of exchange constant and Curie temperature are observed after annealing. The observed findings are discussed in terms of the possible annealing induced effects on the local short-range order around the magnetic atoms in investigated samples.     

Mössbauer investigation of the magnetic anisotropy and electronic structure of a metallic glass

The magnetic anisotropy of a Fe₈₀B₂₀ (METGLAS 2605) metallic glass has been investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy. The direction of magnetization is shown to be strongly temperature dependent with an unusually large out-of-plane component. The similarities between the electronic structure of this glassy alloy and the Fe₂B and FeB intermetallic compounds are discussed briefly.     

Mössbauer and its r.f. sideband effects in iron-rich glassy alloys

Room temperature Mössbauer and its r.f. induced sideband effects are studied in glassy Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ and Fe₈₀P₁₆C₃B₁ alloys in ribbon forms. The direction of the magnetic anisotropy is found to be in the plane of the ribbon for the first alloy while the latter has some out-of-plane anisotropy component. The 3d electronic configuration for iron in the two alloys seems to be about the same in light of the observed isomer shifts and the electron donor model. The r.f. induced sidebands in the spectra are attributed to the magnetostriction of the present alloys.     

Irradiation effects in amorphous alloy Fe80B20

The Mössbauer effect has been used to study the irradiation effects in the amorphous alloy Fe₈₀B₂₀ after 40 keV helium ion bombardment. Conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy reveals the eminent irradiation effects; α-iron phase appears in the damaged region of the sample.     

Investigations of crystal and magnetic properties of Dy-Fe intermetallic compounds

The crystal and magnetic properties of Dy₂Fe₁₇, Dy₆Fe₂₃, DyFe₃ and DyFe₂ intermetallic compounds are investigated with X-ray, magnetometric, ⁵⁷Fe and ¹⁶¹Dy Mössbauer effect methods. The X-ray analysis shows that investigated compounds are single phases with Th₂Ni₁₇, Th₆Mn₂₃, PuNi₃ and NgCu₂ type crystal structures, respectively. The magnetometric measurements prove their ferrimagnetic behaviour, localization of Fe magnetic moments and long range Fe-Fe exchange magnetic interactions. The crystal field effects induce magnetic anisotropy which results in local magnetic symmetry or iron atoms lower than the crystal one. This is observed by the Mössbauer effect method. The values of ¹⁶¹Dy hyperfine magnetic fields measured for investigated compounds exceed that found in metallic dysprosium due to polarization of conduction electrons by 3d-electrons of iron atoms. The weighted average value of ⁵⁷Fe hyperfine magnetic field decreases with the increase of Dy content in the compounds.     

Continuous versus discrete hyperfine-field distributions in amorphous ferromagnetic iron alloys

The Mössbauer spectra of amorphous alloys possess broad absorption lines which are usually attributed to a continuous hyperfine-field distribution. The analysis of such spectra can be made simpler and less ambiguous by eliminating the second and fifth lines (the Δm_I = 0 transitions). By applying a large external magnetic field parallel to the propagation direction of the γ-ray, four-line Mössbauer spectra have been obtained for amorphous Fe₇₈B₁₂Si₁₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ (METGLAS® 2826). A discrete hyperfine-field distribution based on Bernal's liquid-structure model fits the data well. Other aspects of the results are discussed.     

Short-range order of amorphous FeNiB alloy after neutron irradiation

Transmission Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to study irradiation-induced changes in the short-range order of an amorphous Fe_80-x Ni _x B₂₀ alloy. Neutron irradiation led to an increase of the width of a hyperfine field distribution implying atomic rearrangement towards disordering. Changes in a mean value of a HFD and Mössbauer line areas can be associated with a reorientation of spins due to radiation damage.     

Influence of continuous laser annealing on magnetic properties of amorphous ribbons: Connections with structural modifications and crystallization occurrence,as revealed by Mössbauer spectroscopy

In this paper the influence of continuous laser annealing on the magnetic properties and amorphous structure of Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ ribbons is studied; an interpretation is given relating the measured magnetic behaviour with the structural aspects revealed by Mössbauer spectroscopy. The saturation induction, the magnetostriction, the initial permeability, the constant of magnetic anisotropy and the residual stress behaviour versus the annealing temperature are reported. The experimental results show that the continuous laser irradiation can be used to improve magnetic properties under appropriate conditions. In particular the average temperature of heating must not exceed 450 K. On the other hand, we show that the effects of continuous laser annealing are pre-eminently due to both the quenching stress relaxation and the formation of crystalline phases.     

Magnetic behavior of amorphous Fe−Ni−Zr alloys and their response to radiation damage

The magnetic properties of two amorphous Fe?Ni?Zr alloys, Fe_89.7Ni_0.03Zr₁₀ and Fe₇₀Ni₂₀Zr₁₀, both in the “as cast” and neutron irradiated states were investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and dc magnetic susceptibility measurements. The upper magnetic ordering temperatures of Fe_89.7Ni_0.03Zr₁₀ are 232K and 246K for the “as cast” and irradiated samples, respectively. The magnetic ordering temperature for Fe₇₀Ni₂₀Zr₁₀ was about 478K for both the “as cast” and irradiated samples. Both compositions yield magnetic hyperfine spectra, which show a considerable relaxation effect that must be explicitly considered in the calculation of the average local Fe moments. When this is done, these values derived from Mössbauer spectra are in good agreement with the dc susceptibility values. The effects of neutron irradiation on the magnetic properties of these alloys are small.     

Mössbauer study of magnetic anisotropy and structural relaxation in amorphous Fe40Ni40P x B20−x alloys

The amorphous Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P _x B_20?x (x=0, 10, 12, 14, 17) alloys before and after annealing have been studied by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy, etc. Heat treatment of various samples were performed at 225, 250, 275, 300, 325 and 350°C, respectively, for 1 h in a quartz tube in an argon atmosphere. The results show that the magnetic anisotropy and structural relaxation in amorphous Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P _x B_20?x are related to the phosphorus element concentrations involved and the annealing temperatures. A possible mechanism of two-stage relaxation processes below the glass transition temperature is discussed.     

Magnetic insulator glasses

An outline is given of the use of Mössbauer spectroscopy as a probe of the amorphous structure and magnetic coordination in magnetic insulator glasses. Using the⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer resonance as an example in the context of amorphous ferric oxides and fluorides, the manner in which both paramagnetic and hyperfine-field-split spectra can be analyzed is presented. Emphasis is given to the information contained in Mössbauer lineshapes and linewidths in addition to the more obvious line-position data. A number of general findings are set out for ferric speromagnetics with particular references to Mössbauer studies of amorphous Fe₂O₃, Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ (YIG), FeF₃ and NaFeF₄.     

Mössbauer studies of hyperfine fields in disordered Fe2CrAl

Heusler-like alloy Fe₂CrAl was prepared and studied. Structure determination was done by X-ray. The structure was found to conform to the B₂ type. Magnetic hyperfine fields in this sample were studied by the Mössbauer effect. The Mössbauer spectra were recorded over a range of temperature from 40 to 296 K. The Mössbauer spectra showed the co-existence of a paramagnetic part with a magnetic hyperfine portion at all recorded temperatures. Even with the distribution in the magnetic hyperfine field, the average hyperfine field follows the (T/T _c)^3/2 law. The paramagnetic part of the hyperfine field is explained in terms of the clustering of Cr atoms.     

Nanogranular Phase Formation During Devitrification of Fe(NiCo)ZrB Amorphous Alloys

A comprehensive review of our recent experimental and theoretical developments in the processing of nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials made by crystallization of amorphous precursors and containing new nanocrystalline phases is given. The relationship between the structures of the metastable and equilibrium phases and their transformations are discussed. Nickel-rich amorphous precursors with stoichiometry Ni₆₄Fe₁₆Zr₇B₁₂Au₁ were produced by melt-spinning technique and then heat-treated at temperatures ranged from 420 °C to 600 °C for one hour to form nanostructured alloy. The transformation from the amorphous state into the nanocrystalline state was investigated by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the x-ray diffraction (XRD), the vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and Mössbauer techniques. The annealing favours the emergence of cubic Fe_xNi_23-xB₆ crystalline grains (10-25 nm in diameter). Magnetic measurements made at 4.2-1100 K reveal rather high value of saturation magnetization (nearly 60 and 40 Am²/kg at 4.2 K and room temperature, respectively) in amorphous as well as in nanocrystalline states. These facts are consistent with 300 K ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer results which are well supported by the calculations of Ni and Fe magnetic moments in Ni₂₃B₆ and Fe₂₃B₆ phases, using the spin polarized tight binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method. However, anomalous high magnetic moments of Fe and Co atoms were found in some inequivalent positions in the crystal structure.     

Investigations of Ar+ implantation and proton irradiation of amorphous Fe40Ni40B20 samples by Mössbauer techniques

The effect of the implantation of 150 keV Ar⁺ ions at different doses on the surface of amorphous Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and the changes in the bulk properties following proton irradiations are investigated by conversion electron and transmission Mössbauer spectroscopy respectively. In the former case a correlation between the total Mössbauer absorption and the total energy deposited by incident Ar⁺ ions is established, indicating the development of certain stresses in the material, affecting the inter and intra molecular bonding in the near surface region. On the other hand, the proton irradiation seems to cause a reorientation of the atomic spins and also the formation of an additional Fe or Fe?Ni rich phase in the sample. Also the low field A.C. susceptibility is found to decrease as a function of the dose of incident protons. Possible reasons for the above behaviour are discussed.     

Effective magnetic fields on Fe in R1+εFe4B4 alloys

⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra of magnetically ordered R_1+εFe₄B₄ alloys have been measured at low temperatures. Small (⋍ 0.8 T) hyperfine fields have been found for R = Sm and Dy. Analysis of the spectra in terms of simultaneous magnetic and quadrupolar interactions has revealed the magnetization to be parallel to the c axis for R = Sm and perpendicular to the c axis for R = Dy. These results are consistent with a 2^nd-order CEF mechanism for anisotropy. The ordering temperature of Sm_1+εFe₄B₄ was determined from Mössbauer and magnetization measurements to be T_c = 37 ± 2 K, the highest in the R_1+εFe₄B₄ series.     

Correlation between the atomic and electronic structure of metallic glasses

⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer and photoemission measurements were performed on meltquenched amorphous Fe(Zr, B) and (Fe, Ni)B alloys. The atomic and electronic structure of Fe₉₀Zr₁₀ and Fe₈₈B₁₂ glasses were found to be different. Half of the Zr content could be replaced by B in the Fe₉₀Zr₁₀ glass without changing its structure. Mossbauer investigation of the amorphous (Fe_1?xNi_x)_100?yB_y (0<=x<=0.80, 12<=y<=40) system indicates preferential arrangement of Fe and Ni atoms on the transition metal sites. According to the present XPS measurements there is a remarkable shift of 0.5 eV to higher binding energies of the B ls core level energy in the Ni rich glasses compared to Fe₈₈B₁₂ corresponding to a stronger binding between the Ni and the B atoms than that of Fe and B.     

Short range order at the surfaces of annealed amorphous Fe40Ni40P14B6 ribbons

Conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and gamma transmission Mössbauer spectroscopy were used to measure the effects of annealing at 583 K in vacuum into about 200 nm thick layer below the two surfaces and on the bulk of theFe ₄₀ Ni ₄₀ P ₁₄ B ₆ amorphous ribbons prepared by means of melt-spinning technique. The results show a large distribution of hyperfine magnetic fields on the bulk and in the surfaces of the samples. By means of selective analysis of hyperfine magnetic field distribution, we have evalueded the correlation between the different degree of short range orders at the surfaces and in the bulk of the samples, and the phosphorus segregation associated with mechanical cubrittlement induced at low annealing temperature.