Magnetic and anomalous magnetic viscosity in the bulk amorphous ferromagnet Pr58Fe24Al18 and partially amorphous ferromagnet Pr60Fe24Al16

A number of ferromagnetic Pr-Fe-Al alloys have been prepared by argon arc melting and quenching into a copper mould. The alloy of composition Pr58Fe24Al18 is identified as being amorphous (bulk metallic glass or bulk amorphous ferromagnet), and a range of magnetic measurements have been performed to explore differences and similarities between it and a partially amorphous alloy, containing a significant crystalline fraction, Pr60Fe24Al16. For both alloys, measurements of the irreversible susceptibility, and magnetic viscosity on the major hysteresis loop are reported. From the magnetic viscosity data, the fluctuation field is determined. The behaviour of the anomalous magnetic viscosity (non-monotonic behaviour of the magnetic viscosity, where the magnetisation as a function of time is seen to increase, reach a peak, and then decrease), on the recoil curve that leads to the dc demagnetised state is investigated. Both alloys display non-monotonic behaviour. After dc demagnetisation, spontaneous remagnetisation is observed in both alloys, and some comments are made on the thermal remagnetisation behaviour of the amorphous alloy. The anomalous magnetic viscosity is interpreted in the context of the Preisach model, as it predicts a simple functional relationship between the time taken to reach a peak and the applied magnetic field. The experimental data for both alloys is in good agreement with this prediction. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.