Effect of Gd Alloying on Magnetic Properties of Direct-Quenched Fe-Gd-B Nanocrystalline Alloys

Nanocrystalline Fe-Gd-B alloys were successfully synthesized via Gd alloying in a binary Fe-B system using a single-roller melt-spinning technique. A systematic investigation of Gd content variation (0-4.35 at.%) reveals its critical role in tuning microstructure evolution, thermal stability, and magnetic properties. Crucially, the Fe_90.70Gd_2.32B_6.98 alloy ribbon exhibits optimized magnetic performance, achieving a high saturation magnetic induction (<i>B_s</i>) of 1.67 T and a low coercivity (<i>H</i>_c) of 2.737 kA/m. This enhancement is attributed to the suppression α-Fe grain growth through Gd-induced elevation of the thermal stability of the amorphous matrix, which confines the average crystallite size to 26.3 nm. The refined α-Fe phase contributes to elevated <i>B_s</i> through an increased ferromagnetic fraction, while its nanoscale grain structure, combined with wide magnetic domain configurations, effectively reduces <i>H</i>_c by limiting domain wall pinning sites. These findings establish that the synergistic effect of Gd alloying and Fe/B ratio adjustment is a viable strategy for designing high-performance Fe-based magnetic alloys.