Effect of nitrogen ion implantation on phases, crystallization behaviors and magnetic properties of amorphous Fe-Si-B ribbons

Abstract Nitrogen ion implantation is employed to improve the soft magnetic properties of commercial amorphous Fe-Si-B ribbons. The effects of implantation dose and acceleration voltage on the micro-structure, crystallization behavior and magnetic properties are systematically investigated. 1 × 1016 ions cm−2 is determined to be the most suitable dose value to generate one layer with nitrogen implanted as well as keeping the ribbon amorphous. The maximum saturation magnetization of 1.69 T is obtained under this dose, which may be due to the contribution of the formed nanostructured nitride with higher magnetization. Continuing to increase the dose, the magnetization starts to decrease because of the crystallization of the amorphous matrix. Under different acceleration voltages, the structure of the Fe-Si-B ribbons keeps amorphous. Moreover, the largest magnetization is achieved at 150 kV.