Structural study of Fe90-xNb10Bx (x=10, 20 and 30) glassy alloys

The local atomic structures of Fe90-xNb10Rx (x = 10, 20 and 30) glassy alloys have been investigated by anomalous X-ray scattering measurements. A trigonal prism-like chemical short range ordered (CSRO) structure of (Fe,Nb)(6)B was found in Fe60Nb10B30 and Fe70Nb10B20 alloys exhibiting a large supercooled liquid region defined by the temperature interval, AT, between the glass transition temperature, T. and the crystallization temperature, T-x, (DeltaT(x) = 67 and 53 K, respectively), whereas this kind of local structure was not identified for Fe80Nb10B10 having no glass transition. The variation in thermal stability of the Fe-Nb-B alloys originates in a difference in the stability of the local atomic structures with particular compositions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.