Cooling rate induced variation in microstructure and magnetic structure of Nd60Fe30Al10 glass forming alloy

Cooling rate induced variation in microstructure and magnetic structure was investigated in the as-cast Nd60Fe30Al10 alloy. Because the cooling rate was different from the periphery to the center regions, apparent evolution from a full amorphous to a partial precipitated crystalline structure was observed in one as-cast sample. Corresponding to different microstructures, two magnetic domain structures, i.e. fine strip-like domains in sub-micron scale and sunflower-like domains in micron scale, were observed at the periphery and the center of a cross section, respectively. The variation of magnetic properties was discussed in the view of exchange interaction coupling. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.