Atomic structure of amorphous particles produced by spark erosion

The atomic structure of amorphous particles of composition ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{75}$ ${\mathrm{Si}}_{15}$ ${\mathrm{B}}_{10}$ produced by spark erosion was studied by the energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction technique and was compared to that of the amorphous ribbon of the same composition produced by melt spinning. It was found that the nearest-neighbor Fe-Fe correlation is almost identical for the ribbon and the particles of different sizes, whereas the second peak of the radial distribution function shows considerable differences among the samples. The result is consistent with decreased metal-metalloid compositional short-range order in the particles compared to that in the ribbon sample.