Effect of Magnetic Field Annealing on Microstructure and Magnetic Properties of FeCuNbSiB Nanocrystalline Magnetic Core with High Inductance

Transverse magnetic field annealing (TFA) was carried out on $Fe_{73.5}Cu_1Nb_3Si_{15.5}B_7$ nano-crystalline magnetic core with the aim at decreasing coercivity ($H_c$) while keeping high inductance ($L_s$). The magnetic field generated by direct current (DC) was applied on the magnetic core during different selected annealing stages and it was proved that the nanocrystalline magnetic core achieved lowest $H_c$ when applying transverse field during the whole annealing process (TFA1). Although the microstructure and crystallization degree of the nanocrystalline magnetic core exhibited no obvious difference after TFA1 compared to no field annealing, the TFA1 sample showed a more uniform nanostructure with a smaller mean square deviation of grain size distribution. $H_c$ of the nanocrystalline magnetic core annealed under TFA1 decreased along with the increasing magnetic field. As a result, the certain size nanocrystalline magnetic core with low $H_c$ of 0.6 A/m, low core loss (W at 20 kHz) of 1.6 W/kg under flux density of 0.2 T and high $L_s$ of $13.8{\mu}H$ were obtained after TFA1 with the DC intensity of 140 A. The combination of high $L_s$ with excellent magnetic properties promised this nanocrystalline alloy an outstanding economical application in high frequency transformers.