The metastable states of some amorphous Fe-B alloys

The interdependence of the electronic and thermal properties and their effect on the stability of some Fe86.5-xTMxB13.5 (TM is transition metal, 0 less-than-or-equal-to x less-than-or-equal-to 5) alloys is investigated. Differential thermoanalysis and soft X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy were used to measure the thermodynamic phase changes and the partial electronic density of states, respectively. A general role of the electronic effects on the thermal stability is suggested from the trend of the measured data. It is concluded that the thermal stability is effectively controlled by the actual electronic structure of the alloy