Moment canting and structural anisotropy in amorphous alloys: experiments using synchrotron Mossbauer radiation

Moment canting, a phenomenon where the atomic moments in a soft magnet do n ot completely align with an applied field of substantial magnitude, has bee n measured in field annealed (FA) and stress relieved (SR) ribbons of the a morphous alloy Fe78Si9B13. Measurements were made using a synchrotron Mossb auer (SM) source, taking advantage of the fully polarised state of the sour ce to simplify the analysis. Mean in-plane canting angles of order 12 degre es were found for both sets of ribbons in an applied field of 1.1 T, in kee ping with earlier results in smaller fields. The spectra were found to be d ependent on the direction of the applied field in the ribbon plane, indicat ing structural anisotropy in all the samples, consistent with the presence of residual casting strains. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.