Formation of amorphous Fe62Co6Zr6Nb4Cr2B20 alloy with a remarkable supercooled liquid region before crystallization

An amorphous phase can be formed in Fe62Co6Zr6Nb4Cr2B20 alloy by melt spinning. The Fe-based metallic glass shows a remarkable supercooled liquid region of about 84.8 K, which indicates high thermal stability and large glass-forming ability. The crystallization takes place through a single exothermic reaction, accompanying the precipitation of more than three kinds of crystallization phases such as alpha-Fe, Fe2Zr and ZrB2. The long-range atomic rearrangement necessary for the simultaneous precipitation of the multiple crystalline phases seems to cause the appearance of the large supercooled liquid region through the retardation of the crystallization reaction. The Fe-based glassy alloy exhibits soft ferromagnetic properties. There is no distinct change in saturation magnetization (sigma(s)) and coercive force (H-c) with annealing temperature below the crystallization temperature. The devitrification leads to a considerable enhancement in both sigma(s) and H-c The saturated magnetostriction of the Fe-based glass exhibits a relatively low value of 28 x 10(-6). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.