Microstructural and magnetic investigation of partially crystallized amorphous ribbons

We investigated microstructural and magnetic properties of partially crystallized Fe64Co21B15 amorphous ribbons, prepared by different heat treatments. We found a deep correlation between microstructure (alpha-Fe nanograins ranging from 40 to 70 nm) and hysteresis properties. With the help of Preisach modelling we were able to identify, from the presence of two separated local coercive field peaks in the reconstructed Preisach distribution, two separate magnetization mechanisms associated with the amorphous and the crystalline phase. Both local coercive field peaks rescale according to a function of the mean grain size only. This result can be interpreted as a consequence of domain wall pinning by the nanograins.