Formation of a nanocrystalline structure in an iron-base amorphous alloy under the influence of a pulsed magnetic field

Processing the amorphous Fe77P13Si5Mn2.4V0.2C2.4 alloy with one or four 1-ms magnetic pulses of energyE = 1, 5, or 7 kJ was found to reduce the size of coherently scattering domains and notably raise the strength of the alloy, especially atE = 5 kJ. Mössbauer spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction data demonstrate that annealing at 773 K for 10 min and pulsed magnetic processing withE = 5 kJ give rise to the formation of a large number of nanocrystalline phases containing Fe atoms in various states.