Magnetization orientation in thin films is intricately influenced by multiple anisotropy components, with the dominant anisotropy serving as a key determinant. This complexity becomes particularly intriguing when considering thin films composed of subnanometer-scale heterogeneous amorphous structures. Our investigation builds upon this foundation, specifically focusing on the Fe-Ni-B-Nb alloy system, known for its moderate glass-forming ability and susceptibility to nanocrystallization. In this study, we present thickness- and temperature-driven spin-reorientation (SRT) transition, attributed to competing magnetic anisotropy energies in thin films featuring a heterogeneous amorphous structure. Thermogravimetric investigations unveiled a unique heterogeneous amorphous structure, a revelation unattainable through conventional structural analysis methods. The observed spontaneous perpendicular magnetization in amorphous films, as evidenced by transcritical hysteresis loops and magnetic stripe domains, is ascribed to the pronounced residual stress arising from the substantial magnetostriction of the alloy system. The temperature-driven SRT is correlated to the order-disorder magnetic transition of the heterogeneous amorphous phase, characterized by a Curie temperature of ∼225 K. This transformative magnetic state of the heterogeneous amorphous matrix limits the exchange interaction among the densely distributed α-Fe nuclei regions, ultimately governing the dynamic magnetic responses with varying temperature. This work provides valuable insights into the dynamic magnetic orientation of thin films, especially those with heterogeneous amorphous structures, contributing to the broader understanding of the underlying mechanisms of magnetization reversals.

Recent advancements in amorphous materials have opened new avenues for exploring unusual magnetic phenomena at the sub-nanometer scale. We investigate the phenomenon of low-temperature “magnetic hardening” in heterogeneous amorphous Fe–Ni–B–Nb thin films, revealing a complex interplay between microstructure and magnetism. Magnetization hysteresis measurements at cryogenic temperatures show a significant increase in coercivity (HC) below 25 K, challenging the conventional Random Anisotropy Model (RAM) in predicting magnetic responses at cryogenic temperatures. Heterogeneous films demonstrate a distinct behavior in field-cooled and zero-field-cooled temperature-dependent magnetizations at low temperatures, characterized by strong irreversibility. This suggests spin-glass-like features at low temperatures, which are attributed to exchange frustration in disordered interfacial regions. These regions hinder direct exchange coupling between magnetic entities, leading to magnetic hardening. This study enhances the understanding of how microstructural intricacies impact magnetic dynamics in heterogeneous amorphous thin films at cryogenic temperatures.

The phenomenon of exchange bias has been extensively studied within crystalline materials, encompassing a broad spectrum from nanoparticles to thin-film systems. Nonetheless, exchange bias in amorphous alloys has remained a relatively unexplored domain, primarily owing to their inherently uniform disordered atomic structure and lacking grain boundaries. In this study, we present a unique instance of exchange bias observed in Fe-B-Nb amorphous thin films, offering insights into its origins intertwined with the system's spin-glass-like behavior at lower temperatures. The quantification of exchange bias was accomplished through a meticulous analysis of magnetic reversal behaviors in the liquid-helium temperature range, employing a zero-field cooling approach from various initial remanent magnetization states (±MR). At reduced temperatures, the appearance of asymmetric hysteresis, a hallmark of negative exchange bias, undergoes a transformation into symmetric hysteresis loops at elevated temperatures, underscoring the intimate connection between exchange-bias and dynamic magnetic states. Further investigations into the magnetic thermal evolution under varying probe fields reveal the system's transition into a spin-glass-like state at low temperatures. We attribute the origin of this unconventional exchange bias to the intricate exchange interactions within the spin-glass-like regions that manifest at the interfaces among highly disordered Fe-nuclei. The formation of Fe-nuclei agglomerates at the sub-nanometer scale is attributed to the alloy's limited glass-forming ability and the nature of the thin-film fabrication process. We propose that this distinctive form of exchange bias represents a novel characteristic of amorphous thin films.

The present work aims to investigate the mechanism of glass formation and correlates it to the soft magnetism of Ni-substituted Fe-B-Nb alloys. The impact of ferrous Ni on the mechanism of glass formation and soft magnetism of Fe-based bulk metallic glasses was critically analyzed. By quantifying glass forming ability and soft magnetic characteristic for varying degrees of substitution, we observe a maximum in glass forming ability together with a minimum coercivity, which we suggest is due to an increased atomic packing density of the glassy phase. Interestingly, a monotonic increase of Curie temperature with increasing substitution of Ni was observed, which could be attributed to a reduction of an antiferromagnetic Fe-Fe interaction in the glassy iron-rich matrix. The overarching goal of this study is to explore the underlying mechanisms of enhanced glass forming ability, improved soft magnetic properties, and increased Tc of Ni-substituted Fe-based glassy alloys.

A nanoindentation and first-principles calculation study of a self-organizing nanostructured lamellar (Ti,Zr)C powder has been performed. The nanoindentation measurements reveal that the hardness of the carbide is comparable to the hardest transition metal carbides that have been reported previously. The origin of the super-high hardness is postulated to be due to the inherent bond strength and the large coherency strains that are generated when the carbide demixes within the miscibility gap. The high hardness is maintained at a high level even after 500 h aging treatment at 1300°C. Therefore, it is believed that the new superhard mixed carbide has a high potential in various engineering applications such as in bulk cemented carbide and cermet cutting tools, and in surface coatings.

Optically highly transparent, soft magnetic thin films (4-18 nm thick) of Fe-B-Nb- and Fe-B-Nb-Y-based glassy metal targets were grown on quartz substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and their optical and magneto-optical properties were investigated over the visible spectrum (400-700 nm). All the films found to be fully amorphous in structure were continuous with uniform thickness and surface morphology. Their optical transmittance in the range 50%-85% was found to be film thickness dependent over the entire visible regime. The Verdet constant (V) and Faraday rotation angle (theta(f)) for different films (similar to 4-18 nm) investigated as a function of wavelength (lambda) show considerably higher values for the films of Fe-B-Nb-Y alloy as compared with those for Fe-B-Nb films, e. g., the similar to 4 nm film of Fe-B-Nb-Y alloy exhibits V similar to 49 degrees/Oe cm and theta(f)similar to 26 degrees/mu m while it decreased to similar to 29.4 degrees/Oe and similar to 11.8 degrees/mu m, respectively, for the Fe-B-Nb alloy at lambda=611 nm. A linear relationship is found for the wavelength dependence of V and theta(f) for both alloy systems. To the best of our knowledge, these values are considerably higher than those reported for any other magneto-optic material. The films are found to be soft magnetic with a high saturation moment while their magnetic coercivity values increases with thinness of the films. The observed combination of optical and magneto-optical properties of this new class of amorphous metallic films makes them viable for multifunctional magneto-optical applications.

We have fabricated by pulse laser deposition very thin (∼5-7 nm) and thick (∼27-408 nm) films of composition Fe66B24Nb4Ni6 on silicon and quartz substrates respectively, and studied their magnetic and magneto-optic properties at room temperature. We find that the thicker films on silicon can be tuned by appropriate thermal annealing to exploit soft magnetic characteristics with low HC, and high MS values. The magnetic hysteretic loops of the as-deposited thicker films on silicon substrates show two interesting characteristics: 1) increase in the coercivity with the film thickness and 2) the onset of a two stage process during the approach to magnetic saturation. The initial in-plane characteristic of the hysteresis loop is followed by a linear anisotropic behavior between remanence and saturation- that changes into square soft-magnetic loops on decreasing the film thickness. By suitable annealing the intrinsic strain disappears at relatively low temperatures (≤200°C); the thicker films can be tailored to exhibit a simple soft-magnetic square loop with low HC. The ∼5-7 nm films deposited on glass are transparent and have been investigated for their magneto-optic properties using Faraday rotation (FR) measurement technique. Very high values of FR in the range 4-20 deg/μm almost linearly dependent on the wavelength of light in the range 405-611 nm are observed. The observed high values of Faraday rotation over a wide range of wavelength of light are useful for the applications as magneto-optic sensors in the UV to visible range.

We have successfully synthesized Fe-doped ZnO nanorods by a new and simple method in which the adopted approach is by using ammonia as a continuous source of OH- for hydrolysis instead of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT). The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectra revealed that the Fe peaks were presented in the grown Fe-doped ZnO nanorods samples and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results suggested that Fe3+ is incorporated into the ZnO lattice. Structural characterization indicated that the Fe-doped ZnO nanorods grow along the c-axis with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and have single crystalline nature without any secondary phases or clusters of FeO or Fe3O4 observed in the samples. The Fe-doped ZnO nanorods showed room temperature (300 K) ferromagnetic magnetization versus field (M-H) hysteresis and the magnetization increases from 2.5 mu emu to 9.1 mu emu for Zn0.99Fe0.01O and Zn0.95Fe0.05O, respectively. Moreover, the fabricated Au/Fe-doped ZnO Schottky diode based UV photodetector achieved 2.33 A/W of responsivity and 5 s of time response. Compared to other Au/ZnO nanorods Schottky devices, the presented responsivity is an improvement by a factor of 3.9.

We present a method to identify bulk glass forming ability by partial substitution of Fe by Ni in FeBNbY based amorphous alloy ribbons and as a consequence obtain enhanced mechanical and soft magnetic properties of bulk glassy rods of diameter as large as 4.5 mm. A detailed investigation of thermal, mechanical, and magnetic properties of (Fe0.72-x NixB0.24Nb0.04)(95.5)Y-4.5 alloys (with x similar to 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1) was carried out. The supercooled regime (Delta T-x) and other glass forming parameters, e. g., reduced glass transition temperature (T-rg), the gamma (gamma) parameter, etc., were found to be enhanced due to the Ni substitution resulting in improvement of glass forming ability (GFA). The maximum values of such parameters (Delta T-x similar to 94 K, T-rg similar to 0.644, and gamma similar to 0.435) were obtained for the alloy with x similar to 0.06, making it possible to cast cylindrical rods with 4.5 mm diameter for this composition. Nanoindentation studies on glassy rods also point out that (Fe0.66Ni0.06B0.24Nb0.04)(95.5)Y-4.5 alloy exhibit the maximum value of hardness (H similar to 12 GPa) as well as elastic modulus (E similar to 193 GPa) among all of these samples. In addition to these, that particular sample shows the lowest room temperature coercivity (H-c similar to 210 mOe). By annealing at 823 K, H-c can be further reduced to 60 mOe due to its structural relaxation. We attribute the improved soft magnetic and mechanical properties of as-quenched (Fe0.66Ni0.06B0.24Nb0.04)(95.5)Y-4.5 alloy to higher packing density attained due to its large glass forming ability.

We have succeeded in producing bulk metallic glass by partial substitution of Fe with Ni in Fe-B-Nb alloys which could otherwise be only melt spun into amorphous ribbons. Substitution by Ni in the Fe_72-xB₂₄Nb₄Ni_x alloys with (x ~2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14) improves the glass forming ability of the materials and as a result rods of same compositions can be fabricated. Magnetically the BMG alloys remain soft with coercivity below 500mOe. However, the electrical resistivity of the system decreases significantly by as much as a factor of two with the increase of Ni concentration, and becomes more metallic like with a positive temperature coefficient.