The effect of Ni addition on microstructure and soft magnetic properties of FeCoZrBCu nanocrystalline alloys

(Fe0.7Co0.3-xNix)88Zr7B4Cu1 nanocrystalline alloys were developed with the aim of improving the magnetic properties while keeping high Curie temperature (TC). It was revealed that Ni addition inhibited the precipitation of metastable fcc-(Fe,Co,Ni) phase hence increased thermal stability. Although the saturation magnetic flux density (Bs) showed a slight decrease, uniform nanostructure with small grain size and high volume fraction of crystals was formed with increasing Ni addition. As a result, the (Fe0.7Co0.3-xNix)88Zr7B4Cu1 nanocrystalline alloys exhibited excellent magnetic properties with a high Bs of 1.54-1.79 T, low coercivity (Hc) of 17-20 A/m and low core loss of 9.1-11.1 W/kg at 1 T and 400 Hz. The combination of high TC of 747-972 °C, low core loss as well as low material cost promised this FeCoNiZrBCu alloys broad application prospect at high temperature.