High Resolution Electron Microscopic Observation of the Structure and Relaxation Phenomenon of Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ Amorphous Alloy

Abstract

The structure of an Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₄B₆ amorphous alloy, the relaxation phoenomena and the structure of crystallized phases have been analyzed by the lattice imaging technique in high resolution electron microscope. A long range or intermediate range ordering structure has not been observed in the as-prepared alloy, but a pseudo-plane structure suggested in the DRP model has been detected. The intermediate range ordering structure was observed upon heating the specimen for 430 h at 573 K, which was 100 K below the crystallization temperature. A crystallized phase produced by heating at 673 K consisted of α, γ, and the ordered FeNi₃ phase of the Fe–Ni binary system. No metal-metalloid type compound such as Fe₃P was recognized.