Amorphous Ferromagnetic Phase in Iron-Carbon-Phosphorus Alloys

Abstract

A limited number of amorphous alloys have been obtained by rapid cooling from the liquid state. These include Au-Si[1], Pd-Si[2], Pd-Ge, Pt-Si, Pt-Ge, Pt-Sb, and Rh-Ge[3]. In all these systems, amorphous alloys can be obtained within a rather narrow range of concentrations in the vicinity of the eutectic composition. In all systems, the eutectic temperature is also very low with respect to the melting point of the main component in the alloy. According to Cohen and Turnbull[4,5], this particular feature of an equilibrium diagram is conducive to glass formation. Although other factors must play a role in retarding the crystallization of liquid alloys, the existence of a "deep eutectic" in the phase diagram is certainly an important condition since in all cases reported so far this condition has been satisfied.