Structural evolution and the kinetics of Cu clustering in the amorphous phase of Fe-Cu-Nb-Si-B alloy

An attempt has been made to investigate the evolution of the structure of the amorphous phase of Fe73.9 Cu0.9 Nb3.1 Si13.2 B8.9 (finemet) alloy by a combination of wide-angle x-ray scattering, small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy on the supposition that they would provide complementary information. Before the onset of nanocrystallization, the amorphous phase undergoes a structural relaxation resulting in small increase in the hyperfine field and a decrease in the width of the first diffraction maxima. There is an increase in the topological ordering in the system, though chemical inhomogeneity sets-in due to the clustering of Cu atoms in the pure amorphous state of this alloy. Annealing at 400 °C (well below the crystallization temperature) for different time durations results in occurrence of Cu clusters having fcc structure. Kinetics of Cu clustering is studied using SAXS. The incubation time for the clustering at 400 °C is ∼120 min. With further annealing, the average cluster size gradually increases from the initial value of ∼0.4 nm, reaching a value of ∼0.6 nm after annealing for 720 min. Cluster size exhibits a t1/2 dependence, suggesting a diffusion controlled growth.