Amorphous and nanocrystalline materials for applications as soft magnets

This review seeks to summarize the recent developments in the synthesis, st ructural characterization, properties, and applications in the fields of am orphous, bulk amorphous, and nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials. Conve ntional physical metallurgical approaches to improving soft ferromagnetic p roperties have relied on the: optimization of chemical and microstructural features. Within the last decade, the development and rapid increase in res earch of nanocrystalline materials has shown that through proper modificati ons, revolutionary contributions can be made to better materials' propertie s. A wide range of materials' properties are examined in this review, inclu ding: kinetics and thermodynamics, structure, microstructure, and intrinsic and extrinsic magnetic properties. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.