Structural evolution and magnetic aspects in nanostructured (Fe₉₂Zr₈)₉₆B₄ alloys

Magnetic powder alloys (Fe₉₂Zr₈)₉₆B₄ were produced by using a combination of two synthesis techniques, casting and ball milling. Bulk samples were reached from casting while milling yield to powders to induce a homogenized structural phase. The structural analysis confirmed that initially an α-Fe phase (bcc) was formed with space group Im-3m. As the milling time goes from 0 to 36 h, small changes in the lattice parameter were noticed, going from 0.285 nm to 0.287 nm. Magnetic hysteresis loops measurements revealed that the samples are ferromagnetic at room temperature, with a maximum saturation magnetization ~ 161 emu/g for 0 h and~150 emu/g for 36 h. Likewise, the powder samples are magnetically soft at room temperature, with coercive field values below 50 O_e. Finally, through Mössbauer spectroscopy, the ferromagnetic character of the (Fe₉₂Zr₈)₉₆B₄ alloys was confirmed, where the hyperfine field sites can be associated with Fe-rich regions in which almost all the nearest neighbors are Fe atoms.