Assessment of the Structural State of the Amorphous Alloys Thin Surface Layers

Abstract

The complex approach based on the combination of methods of equilibrium thermodynamics and x-ray electron spectroscopy for layer-by-layer analysis of the composition of surface layers of amorphous alloys is described on the example of Fe-Si-B-Nb-Cu alloy.

Effect of Hydrogen Absorption on the Composition of the Amorphous Alloys Surface Layers

“…The analysis of the AFM-images shows that on the contact side, the crystalline inclusions have the size of the order of dср 50-80 nm, the range of heights Sy 38.5-50 nm, the root-mean-square roughness of the order of Sq 7. For the free side, these parameters are dср 24-57 nm, Sy 4.4-14 nm and Sq 0.6-2.8 [17]. The comparison of the shape of the concentration profiles and the topography of the surfaces of the studied alloys shows that the concentration profile shape is determined by the root-mean-square roughness and the sizes of crystalline inclusions in the surface layer.…”