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

The magnetic properties of two amorphous Fe−Ni−Zr alloys, Fe89.7Ni0.03Zr10 and Fe70Ni20Zr10, both in the “as cast” and neutron irradiated states were investigated by Mossbauer spectroscopy and dc magnetic susceptibility measurements. The upper magnetic ordering temperatures of Fe89.7Ni0.03Zr10 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 Mossbauer spectra are in good agreement with the dc susceptibility values. The effects of neutron irradiation on the magnetic properties of these alloys are small.