Structural and magnetic properties of nanostructured (Fe70Co30)100-xCux alloy prepared by high energy ball milling

In the present work, structural and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline (Fe70Co30)(100-x)Cu-x (x = 0, 5, 9) powders produced by mechanical alloying (MA) have been Investigated. These properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). According to the results, a body-centered cubic nanostructured (Fe70Co30)(91)Cu-9 alloy with an average crystallite size of about 13 nm has been produced by milling for 32 h. Whereas, in (Fe70Co30)(95)Cu-5 and (Fe70Co30) the alloying process has accomplished after 45 h milling. It is found that Cu speeds up the formation of a bcc phase with finer microstructure (D = 12 nm for x = 9). With increasing the milling time, the crystallite size has decreased for all powders. Increase in microstrain was observed with increasing the milling time and also with increasing Cu content. The magnetic measurements show a contrasting saturation magnetization and coercivity (H-c) in Fe-Co-Cu alloys. These variations are explained on the basis of crystallite size and strain variations in the samples during milling. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.