The effect of Nb addition on the thermal stability and magnetic properties of Fe-based amorphous alloys with a wide supercooled liquid region

We have examined the effect of Nb addition on the thermal stability of the supercooled liquid before crystallization, the glass-forming ability and magnetic properties for the amorphous alloy series Fe₇₃Nb_xAl_5-xGe₂P₁₀C₆B₄ and Fe₆₃Co₇Nb_xZr_10-xB₂₀. The supercooled liquid regions (ΔT_x=T_x-T_g) have maximum values of 66 and 79K, respectively, for Fe₇₃Nb₁Al₄Ge₂P₁₀C₆B₄ and Fe₆₃Co₇Nb₄Zr₆B₂₀ alloys. The saturation magnetization \sigma_\rm s of the Fe₇₃Nb_xAl_5-xGe₂P₁₀C₆B₄ alloy system is much higher than that of the Fe₆₃Co₇Nb_xZr_10-xB₂₀ alloy system, and is almost unchanged with an increasing Nb content from 0 to 3 at%. But the \sigma_\rm s of the Fe₆₃Co₇Nb_xZr_10-xB₂₀ alloys decreases linearly with increasing Nb content. The coercive force H_c of the two alloy series can have a minimum value of 31A/m for Fe₇₃Nb₁Al₄Ge₂P₁₀C₆B₄ and 37A/m for Fe₆₃Co₇Nb₄Zr₆B₂₀. All these values are for the ribbons annealed at 773 and 873K for 15min in vacuum.