Mössbauer effect and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Fe and Fe(Si) alloys

Abstract Nanocrystalline Fe and Fe-9at%Si alloys were produced by ball milling. The average grain size, determined from X-ray line broadening, decreased to about 6 nm as the milling time increased from 0 to 380 hours in the case of Fe and from 0 to ISO bours in the case of the Fe-9at%Si alloy. The coercitive force (Hc) and the magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) were measured by Barkhausen noise technique as a function of the grain size for Fe-9at%Si alloy. The results are in accordance with the random anisotropy model. The Mossbauer spectra as a function of the milling time were also measured at room temperature, and well detectable changes were observed at smaller grain sizes (