The Effect of Copper and Manganese on the Amorphization Process in a Thin Fe–Si–Mg–O Film

Abstract

The effect of copper and manganese on the amorphization process in the surface layer of a technical Fe-3% Si alloy during annealing in the α → γ transition temperature range was determined by x-ray phase analysis. The presence of 0.5 wt. % Cu and 0.3 wt. % Mn in the initial Fe-3% Si solid solution significantly enhances the amorphization process that occurs when heated in the temperature range 920... 960∘C as an alternative to the α → γ phase transformation. The effect of amplification of amorphization is both in obtaining a larger amount of material in the amorphous state, and in the appearance of two amorphous phases, differing in average interatomic distance. The composition of the amorphous phase is approximately described as Fe89Si6Mg4Mn0.5Cu0.5 in the presence of Cu and Mn atoms and Fe90Si6Mg4 in the case of their absence in the amorphous layer.