Study of Critical Behavior in Amorphous Fe85Sn5Zr10 Alloy Ribbon

• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-016-4981-8
• Publication Date: 2016-10-05T13:30:45Z
• Authors: L. A. Han; X. H. Hua; H. Z. Zhu; J. Yang; H. P. Yang; Z. X. Yan; T. Zhang
• Keywords: Widom scaling; Critical point (mathematics); Isothermal process; Ribbon

We have investigated the critical behavior in amorphous Fe85Sn5Zr10 alloy ribbon prepared using a single-roller melt-spinning method. This alloy shows a second-order magnetic transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic (FM) state at the Curie temperature T C (∼306 K). To obtain more information on the features of the magnetic transition, a detailed critical exponent study was carried out using isothermal magnetization M (H, T) data in the vicinity of the T C. Modified Arrott plot, Kouvel–Fisher plot, Widom’s scaling relation and critical isotherm analysis techniques were used to investigate the critical behavior of this alloy system around its phase transition point. The values of critical exponents determined using the above methods are self-consistent. The estimated critical exponents are fairly close to the theoretical prediction of the three-dimensional (3D) Heisenberg model, implying that short-range FM interactions dominate the critical behavior in amorphous Fe85Sn5Zr10 alloy ribbon.