Random and uniform anisotropy in soft magnetic nanocrystalline alloys (invited)

In amorphous and nanocrystalline transition metal based alloys with low magnetostriction, the soft magnetic properties are mainly determined by magneto-elastic and annealing-induced anisotropies which are uniform on a scale much larger than the exchange correlation length. Though, in the nanocrystalline case, there are situations where the random magneto-crystalline anisotropy of the grains becomes relevant. The present paper surveys the interplay between the random magneto-crystalline and the uniform field-induced anisotropy in nanocrystalline FeCuNbSiB soft magnets. Typical examples where the contribution of the random anisotropy becomes particularly visible in the magnetic domain structure will be reviewed.