Structural study of Fe90−Nb10B (x=10, 20 and 30) glassy alloys

Abstract The local atomic structures of Fe90−xNb10Bx (x=10, 20 and 30) glassy alloys have been investigated by anomalous X-ray scattering measurements. A trigonal prism-like chemical short range ordered (CSRO) structure of (Fe,Nb)6B was found in Fe60Nb10B30 and Fe70Nb10B20 alloys exhibiting a large supercooled liquid region defined by the temperature interval, ΔTx between the glass transition temperature, Tg and the crystallization temperature, Tx, (ΔTx=67 and 53 K, respectively), whereas this kind of local structure was not identified for Fe80Nb10B10 having no glass transition. The variation in thermal stability of the Fe–Nb–B alloys originates in a difference in the stability of the local atomic structures with particular compositions.