Influence of Hf and Y Content on the Local Occurrence of Antiferromagnetic Interactions in Amorphous Fe-Based Alloys

Abstract

Fe-based, rapid-quenched alloys are characterized by good magnetic properties. For alloys with ferromagnetic properties, an important parameter is the saturation magnetization. Its value depends on many factors, including: chemical composition, content of ferromagnetic elements, and structure of the material. For alloys with an amorphous structure, there is a chaotic arrangement of atoms in the alloy volume. Locally, however, the atoms may be in an order close to the crystal structure. The distances between magnetic atoms in such areas determine the magnetization process of the alloy. These distances can be adjusted with various alloy additions. The study investigated the effect of the content of Y and Hf on the distance between magnetic atoms and the value of saturation magnetization. It was found that a higher content of Y (characterized by a longer atomic radius compared to Hf) reduces the distance between Fe atoms and causes a decrease in the value of saturation magnetization. This is related to the local presence of antiferromagnetic order.