Mechanical alloying and magnetic properties of Fe90Sb10 and Fe15Sb85 systems

Fe-Sb powder mixtures were ball milled at compositions Fe90Sb10 and Fe15Sb85. X-ray diffraction was used to study the phase transitions and to determine the particle size. The final microstructure of the Fe15Sb85 sample was investigated by TEM. The ball milling of Fe90Sb10 resulted in the formation of Fe-based solid solution and amorphous and/or nanocrystalline Sb. A heterogeneous nanocrystalline granular mixture of Sb, Fe and Sb2Fe intermetallic was obtained after 400 h milling of Fe15Sb85, where the antimony matrix contains small, single domain Fe and Sb2Fe particles. The temperature dependences of magnetization and coercivity indicate superparamagnetic behaviour of this sample.