Local atomic and magnetic structures of amorphous Fe1-xBxalloys studied by neutron scattering

Abstract
The local atomic and magnetic structures of the ferromagnetic FexB1-x amorphous alloys, where x=0.14, 0.17 and 0.25, have been studied by neutron scattering using pulsed spallation neutrons. The atomic and magnetic structures have been separately determined by applying a magnetic field (5 kOe) parallel and perpendicular to the scattering vector Q. The Fe-Fe, Fe-B and B-Fe coordination numbers could be determined from high-Q measurements (Qmax approximately=25 AA-1). The results show that there is no significant structural change in Fe1-xBx amorphous alloys with 0.14<or=x<or=0.25. The magnetic moments reside mainly on Fe atoms. These results give experimental support to the idea that the Invar effect of these alloys can be interpreted in terms of the electronic structure of the alloys. A comment is given for the method of determining the magnetic structure.