Structural relaxation of Co-P amorphous alloys

The structural relaxation of ${\mathrm{Co}}_{91}$ ${\mathrm{P}}_9$ amorphous alloys is monitored using coercive-force measurements after isothermal annealing. The coercive force relaxes by 2 orders of magnitude after annealing. The relaxation is analyzed in terms of the spectra of the activation energies. We deduce that four processes contributing to relaxation can be distinguished in the activation energy range from approximately 1.18 to 1.50 eV. Our results suggest that the diffusion of P atoms from ‘‘unstable’’ to ‘‘stable’’ holes is the main source for the relaxation process. The relation between the four processes observed and the different possible holes is discussed.