Structural, electronic and magnetic properties of splat-quenched FeC_xalloys (x⩽0.05)

Abstract

The authors present the results of a combined investigation of splat-quenched Fe-Cx (x<or=0.05) alloys by resistivity, X-ray diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The residual resistivity increases linearly with the carbon content ( Delta rho =5 mu Omega cm at.%-1) with a slope identical to that observed in the dilute ferritic phase. X-ray diffraction reveals the presence of a martensite structure in addition to a small fraction of residual austenite; the dependence of the a and c lattice parameters on xc agrees with earlier measurements. The Mossbauer spectra reveal three or four magnetically non-equivalent iron sites. The subspectra with lowest hyperfine field ( approximately 268 kOe) and largest hyperfine field ( approximately 347 kOe) are attributed to the nearest iron neighbours, respectively in axial and equatorial positions of the carbon interstitial atoms.