We investigated the alloy system Of Fe86-xCu1NbxB13 (X=4, 5, 7) in order to
obtain information on the crystallisation behaviour of the amorphous precu
rsor alloy and the resulting structural composition. Onset temperatures of
different crystallisation steps were studied with DSC measurements. Dilatom
etric and thermomagnetic measurements as well as those of the electrical re
sistivity were applied in order to detect changes not being correlated with
a change of the heat capacity. For a structural investigation, Mossbauer e
ffect and electron diffraction experiments were carried out.
Our results show that - up to a certain annealing temperature depending on
the Nb content - there is only a nanocrystalline a-Fe phase, embedded in an
amorphous matrix. At higher annealing temperatures crystalline FeB phases
appear. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc.