MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF MECHANICALLY ALLOYED NANOCRYSTALLINE FEE CU50FE50 DURING THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION

The evolution of magnetization and of the diffraction patterns during decomposition of CuFe nanocrystalline solid solution indicates that more than 50% of the emerging Fe-rich zones remain fcc after the exothemic heat release corresponding to chemical phase separation. The thermal decomposition of metastable fee FeCu thus generates Fe-rich fcc zones that have not been obtained by mechanical alloying or vapor-deposition techniques and provides interesting information on the magnetic properties of dilute gamma-Fe(Cu) which is found to be ferromagnetic, as compared to pure gamma-Fe which is antiferromagnetic.