Thermal stability of electrical and magnetic properties of a nanocrystalline Hf-Ni alloy

The thermal stability of a nanocrystalline (NC) Hf11Ni89 alloy was studied using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, resistivity measurements and magnetothermal analysis. Microstructure and composition evolution in the grain boundaries and nanograins prior to evident grain growth was detected, and it was shown that this evolution may have a significant influence on the electrical resistivity and magnetic properties of the sample. Our findings demonstrated that the thermal stability of properties of NC materials is not necessarily equivalent to the grain-size stability of the same materials.