Spark plasma sintering of amorphous-crystalline laminated composites

In this rapid communication, a novel approach involving pulsed electrodeposition (PED) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) of Fe–B–Si amorphous ribbons is presented for the processing of amorphous-crystalline laminated composites. The PED allowed the deposition of nanocrystalline Ni or Cu layers (thickness: <3 μm) on the Fe–B–Si amorphous ribbons (thickness: <25 μm). The coated ribbons were subsequently stacked and SPS sintered under the influence of pulsed direct current and uniaxial pressure. The SPS sintered amorphous ribbons (uncoated) and amorphous-Ni laminates exhibited partial crystallization of the ribbons and poor lamellar bonding in the composites. With the similar SPS sintering parameters (temperature: 450 °C; pressure: 350 MPa; sintering time: 20 min), the amorphous-Ni–Cu laminates were sintered to full densification without undesirable crystallization of the amorphous ribbons.