Compositional dependence of the soft magnetic properties of the nanocrystalline Fe–Zr–Nb–B alloys with high magnetic flux density

The compositional dependence of the soft magnetic properties of the nanocrystalline Fe–Zr–Nb–B alloys has been investigated. The magnetostriction [formula omitted] and the grain size of the [formula omitted] alloys, which are two typical ternary alloys mixed with the best soft magnetic properties, show intermediate values between those of the [formula omitted] with negative [formula omitted] and the [formula omitted] with positive [formula omitted] However, the soft magnetic properties of the [formula omitted] alloys are inferior to those of the [formula omitted] and the [formula omitted] alloys. The best soft magnetic properties have been obtained at [formula omitted] The [formula omitted] alloy shows a high [formula omitted] of 60 000 at 1 kHz, a high [formula omitted] of 1.64 T, and zero [formula omitted] simultaneously. The alloy also exhibits a very low core loss of 0.09 W/kg at 1.4 T and 50 Hz, which is extremely lower than that of Fe–Si–B amorphous alloys. The nanocrystalline Fe–Zr–Nb–B alloys with improved soft magnetic properties are therefore suitable for pole transformers.