Critical phenomena in FINEMET alloy

The Fe_73.5Cu₁Nb₃Si_13.5B₉ FINEMET alloy has been prepared by the rapid solidification technique. The critical behaviour of this alloy in the amorphous as well as in its nanocrystalline states has been studied near their respective Curie temperatures. From the values of the critical exponents one can conclude that the alloy behaves like a 3D Heisenberg ferromagnet in the amorphous and nanocrystalline states. But there exists a slight increase in the value of β for the alloy annealed at 823 K (the nanocrystalline state) as observed in most of the amorphous alloys.     

Current distribution and giant magnetoimpedance in composite wires with helical magnetic anisotropy

The giant magnetoimpedance effect in composite wires consisting of a non-magnetic inner core and soft magnetic shell is studied theoretically. It is assumed that the magnetic shell has a helical anisotropy. The current and field distributions in the composite wire are found by means of a simultaneous solution of Maxwell equations and the Landau–Lifshitz equation. The expressions for the diagonal and off-diagonal impedance are obtained for low and high frequencies. The dependences of the impedance on the anisotropy axis angle and the shell thickness are analyzed. Maximum field sensitivity is shown to correspond to the case of the circular anisotropy in the magnetic shell. It is demonstrated that the optimum shell thickness to obtain maximum impedance ratio is equal to the effective skin depth in the magnetic material.     

In situ hybridization to chitosan/magnetite nanocomposite induced by the magnetic field

Chitosan/magnetite nanocomposite was synthesized induced by magnetic field via in situ hybridization in ambient condition. Results of XRD patterns and TEM micrographs indicated that magnetite particles with 10–20 nm were dispersed in chitosan homogeneously. An interesting result is that magnetite nanoparticles were assembled to form chain-like structures under the influence of the external magnetic field, which mimics the magnetite chains inside of magnetotatic bacteria. The saturated magnetization (Ms) of nano-magnetite in chitosan was 50.54 emu/g, which is as high as 54% of bulk magnetite. The remanence (Mr) and coercivity (Hc) were 4 emu/g and14.8 Oe, respectively, which indicated that magnetite nanoparticles were superparamagnetic. The key of route is that a pre-precipitated chitosan hydrogel membrane, used as chemical reactor, which controlled the precipitation of chitosan precipitation and in situ transformation of magnetite from the precursor simultaneously in the magnetic field environment.     

The effect of surface crystalline layers on asymmetric off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons

The off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons was measured using a pick-up coil wound around the sample. One side of a ribbon was etched in hydrofluoric acid solution during various times in order to change the thickness of the surface crystalline layer appearing after annealing. The asymmetric two-peak field dependence of the off-diagonal impedance was observed for all samples. The evolution of the off-diagonal magnetoimpedance with the change in the ribbon thickness is analyzed.     

External influence on magnetic properties of Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys

Amorphous and nanocrystalline ribbons of NANOPERM, FINEMET and HITPERM were studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) after the influence of external factors: different annealing atmospheres, tensile stress and several kinds of corrosion. MS is a suitable tool for such studies because the spectral parameters are very sensitive to changes in the vicinity of the probe — ⁵⁷Fe nuclei. The most sensitive parameters were hyperfine magnetic field in crystalline component, average hyperfine field in amorphous component and direction of net magnetic moments. Influence of external factors modified also the structure of the alloys, i.e. new or modified phases were identified by MS phase analysis.     

On the magnetic and crystallization behaviour of iron based amorphous alloys determined by nuclei quenched in

The tendency of boron-containing, iron-based glasses to show non monotonic changes of Curie Temperature (T _c ) and room temperature saturation magnetization (SM) was examined by magnetic measurements and Mossbauer spectroscopy. Depending on B/Fe ratio theT _c and SM first increased up to a maximum value and then steadily decreased, probably because of a shortrange ordering, due to the strong chemical interaction between iron and boron atoms, leading iron atoms in vicinity with Fe-atoms rather than another TM-atom. Finally, the phenomenon becomes analogous to the order-disorder phenomenon in crystalline alloys. An observed unusual crystallization behaviour, consisting of heterogeneous nucleation, was also ascribed to this ordering, which leads to the formation of associations, acting as the first nuclei of crystallization.     

Growth of single-crystal magnetite nanowires from Fe3O4 nanoparticles in a surfactant-free hydrothermal process

Single-crystal magnetite nanowires with average diameter of ca. 20 nm and length of up to several micrometers were prepared by a simple alkaline surfactant-free hydrothermal process. The crystallinity, purity, morphology, and structural features of the as-prepared magnetite nanowires were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected area electron diffraction. The composition and length of nanowires depends on the pH, with higher pH favoring longer nanowires composed entirely of Fe₃O₄. A mechanism for nanowire growth is proposed.     

Preparation of Fe–Si–B–Nb amorphous powder cores with excellent high-frequency magnetic properties

FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores were prepared with the amorphous powder by gas atomization and subsequent hot pressing of resulting powder after creating oxide layers on the amorphous powder. Fully amorphous FeSiBNb powders with good soft magnetic properties were successfully obtained in the particle size range below 100 μm. FeSiBNb amorphous powder cores exhibit stable permeability up to 10 MHz, showing excellent high-frequency characteristics.     

Magnetic properties of HITPERM-type alloys at high temperature

(Fe,Co)–Zr,Hf)–Cu–B (HITPERM-type) alloys with variable Hf, Zr and Co content were isothermally crystallised at 500–650 °C for 1 h, and the optimum nanocrystallisation temperature was selected on the basis of the minimum coercive field at room temperature. The quasistatic hysteresis loops were measured at temperature from 20 to 650 °C. Subsequently, the optimally annealed alloys were subjected to long-term annealing at 500, 550 and 600 °C. Working temperature of 600°C is too high for the investigated alloys to maintain stable magnetic properties. Temperature of 550 or 500 °C permits the material to be magnetically stable for a long period. The magnetic hysteresis loops recorded for the nanocrystalline alloys, where Fe:Co ratio is close to 1 and refractory metals content is 7 at.%, prove that coercive field increases slightly with temperature, but remains in the range of 20–40 A/m (depending on the alloy composition) from 20 to 550 °C. This proves that the investigated alloys, after optimisation of chemical composition, may be suitable for high temperature use.     

Magnetic properties of amorphous Mn x B100−x alloys

Magnetic properties of amorphous Mn _x B_100–x alloys ranging fromx = 30 to 70 under high magnetic fields and low ac magnetic fields in the temperature range from 4.2 K to room temperature have been investigated. Samples which have Mn concentrations of aboutx = 40–60 show spin-glass-like properties in the low-temperature region. This spin-glass characteristics result from a frustration in the spin system which is caused by the competition of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions between randomly distributed Mn atoms. Both magnetization at 4.2 K and paramagnetic momentP _eff as a function of Mn concentration show a peak aroundx 44 which drops rapidly towards both sides of the Mn content.