Nanocrystal Growth in Thermally Treated Fe75Ni2Si8B13C2 Amorphous Alloy

Thermal treatment of amorphous Fe 75 Ni 2 Si 8 B 13 C 2 alloy leads to crystallization of the stable α -Fe(Si) and Fe 2 B as well as to the metastable Fe 3 B phase. The study of the mechanism of crystal growth of the α -Fe(Si) phase revealed that the mechanism of α -Fe(Si) growth changes from two dimensional in the early stage to one dimensional in the later stage of crystallization. The Fe 2 B phase was found to crystallize through two independent routes: from the amorphous phase and from the metastable Fe 3 B phase, which leads to a different mechanism of crystal growth for each route. Both routes exhibit a change in the mechanism of crystal growth: from two dimensional to one dimensional and from three dimensional to two dimensional, respectively. The respective mechanisms of crystal growth correlate well with the observed changes in preferential orientation of the crystallites of the Fe 2 B phase.