The effects of annealing on the magnetic properties of glass-coated Fe-Ni-C
u microwires have been studied. The FCC Ni-Fe particle size increases with
the annealing temperature resulting in higher room temperature coercivity.
When the annealing temperature is increased to 500 degreesC, a wasp-waisted
hysteresis loop is observed which arises from the locking-in of the domain
walls by the directional order of atoms due to diffusion under the influen
ce of the local magnetic field. A magnetically hard glass-coated microwire
with coercivity of 600 Oe is obtained after annealing at 700 degreesC for 1
h. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.