Structural modifications of metallic glasses followed by techniques of nuclear resonances

Abstract

AbstractIron-based metallic glasses (MGs) are typical representatives of disordered alloys. They exhibit amorphous structure that is lacking any long-range order. Appropriate chemical composition of MGs ensures soft magnetic properties suitable for variety of practical applications. Because the beneficial magnetic properties are closely related to structural features of MGs it is inevitable to understand the ways how and under which conditions is their original structure modified. Notably elevated temperature can induce formation of crystallites that alter the desired magnetic parameters. Here, we demonstrate the use of 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry and nuclear forward scattering of synchrotron radiation for the study of structural transformations in (Fe2.85Co1)77Mo8Cu1B14 MG which was chosen as an example. These techniques are based upon nuclear resonances that can scan evolution of hyperfine interactions acting upon nuclear levels of a stable 57Fe isotope. Because iron is typical constituent element of MGs, any deviations from original structural arrangement including modifications of the chemical surrounding can be studied.