Effect of 1 at. % Cu addition on the soft magnetic properties of FeSiBPC amorphous/nanocrystalline alloys

The effect of 1 at. % Cu addition and annealing temperatures on the soft magnetic properties of Fe81B13P3Si2C1 amorphous ribbons was investigated in this paper. The results show that both Fe81B13P3Si2C1 and (Fe81B13P3Si2C1)0.99Cu1 amorphous/nanocrystalline alloys possess excellent soft magnetic properties. Minor Cu addition can enlarge the temperature interval between first and second crystalline temperatures from 48 K to 112 K, enlarging the processing window and increasing the thermal stability of the amorphous alloy. The annealed Fe81B13P3Si2C1 amorphous/nanocrystalline alloy exhibits saturation flux densities (Bs) on the order of 1.69 T and coercivities (Hc) of 14.6 A/m, and the annealed (Fe81B13P3Si2C1)0.99Cu1 alloy shows a high Bs value of up to 1.92 T and Hc of 11.6 A/m. The soft magnetic properties were discussed in terms of microstructure and magnetic domain observation.