Effect of annealing in hydrogen on composition and properties of rapidly quenched Fe-Co-B and Fe-B-Si alloy ribbons

It is shown that soft magnetic Fe-Si and Fe-Co alloy ribbons can be produced by extraction of boron from rapidly quenched Fe-Si-B and Fe-Co-B ribbons. Fe-Si-B and Fe-Co-B alloys of different compositions were rapidly quenched to ribbons about 10 mm wide and 20–25 μm thick. The ribbons were annealed in wet hydrogen between 700 and 900 °C, followed by an annealing at 1100 °C in dry hydrogen. After proper annealing, the ribbons are composed of single-phased Fe-Si or Fe-Co solid solution with the boron having been extracted completely. Soft magnetic properties will be discussed as a function of composition and annealing parameters. It is also possible to produce a Co foil in this way.