The Effect Of Sub Tx Heat Treatments On The Magnetic Properties Of An Fe-based Bulk Metallic Glass

Abstract: Metallic glasses produced with Selective Laser Melting (SLM) often contain internal mechanic stress. This internal stress can have an impact on the magnetic properties of the material due to its connection to the magnetic anisotropy of the material. Therefore the effect of different heat treatments aimed to reduce the effect of internal stress on the magnetic properties of an Fe-based Metallic Glass (MG) and how this relates to the crystallization of the material was examined in this project. The magnetic properties were measured with a Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) and the Longitudinal Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect (L-MOKE) and structural changes to the material from the heat treatments, such as crystallization, was examined with X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD) before and after heat treatment. From the measurements we found that heat treatments close to and above the crystallization temperature Tx lead to crystallization and a decrease in magnetic saturation MS. Heat treatments below Tx around 430°C showed a smaller reduction in MS but did not show any crystallization. The measurements with L-MOKE showed no consistent change in coercivity so no conclusion could be drawn from these.