Fabrication and soft magnetic properties of rapidly quenched Co-Fe-B-Si-Nb ultra-thin amorphous ribbons

Ultra-thin soft magnetic amorphous ribbons of Co-Fe-B-Si-Nb alloy were synthesised by a single step rapid-quenching approach to acquire advantage of improved material performance and lower costs over commercial amorphous alloys. The amorphous ribbons of approximately 5.5 µm thicknesses were quenched by a single roller melt spinner in a single-step production process and characterised for their structural and magnetic properties. The disordered atomic structure of amorphous ribbons was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction. A surface morphology study revealed the continuity of ultra-thin ribbons without pores over a large scale. The amorphous alloy showed the ultra-soft magnetic properties in the as-quenched state. The observed thickness dependency of the magnetic properties was attributed to the increased surface roughness and possibly due to a lack of densely packed atomic structure resulting from the extremely high cooling rates experienced by ultra-thin ribbons. We propose that in-situ thinning process of amorphous ribbons significantly reduces the basic material cost and eliminates the need for post-processing steps; hence it provides the opportunity for mass production of high-performance soft magnetic amorphous ribbons at relatively lower costs.