FeCo intermetallic alloys are well known to possess a unique combination of high saturation magnetisation, high Curie temperature, low magnetocrystalline anisotropy and good strength. They are ideally suited for applications requiring high flux densities. Intense research and development efforts over the years resulted in significant improvements in mechanical properties and better understanding of phase transformations in FeCo alloys. However, the high cost of the alloys has prevented their widespread applications. Emerging needs for soft magnetic materials to operate at high temperatures have caused renewed interest in FeCo alloys. The earlier studies are summarised in this review with special emphasis on phase transformations, processing, mechanical, magnetic and electrical properties of binary, ternary and more complex FeCo alloys. Current interest in developing nanocrystalline and thin films based on FeCo compositions is also summarised. The research areas that need to be addressed are also emphasised to clearly elucidate the effects of alloying additions and processing on the electrical and magnetic properties and on the high temperature mechanical properties of these alloys.

Soft magnetic FeCo alloys: alloy development, processing, and properties

The 90 K superconductor, YBa 2 Cu 3 O δ (YBCO), has proved to be highly adaptable chemically as it can accommodate a wide variety of cationic and anionic substitutions. Indeed, the majority of the chemical elements, excluding noble gases and actinides, have been reported to substitute to some extent into the YBCO structure. This review covers the literature on such substitutions and their effect on the properties of YBCO. Reported solubility limits are given, together with crystal symmetry and trends in unit cell parameters with dopant concentration. The dopant site is considered; this is additionally complex in the case of copper substitution because of the two distinct copper sites in the crystal structure. The effect of the dopant on the critical temperature, T c , is reviewed; the literature is often contradictory due to the dual effects of variable oxygen content and the nature of the dopant. Preparation methods appear to have an effect on solubility limits, crystal symmetry and T c , Also, the methods used to determine solubility limits are often imprecise which can lead to contradictions. The magnetic properties of doped materials are reviewed; for some dopants, particularly the magnetic lanthanides, antiferromagnetism and superconductivity co-exist. The related RBa 2 Cu 3 O δ phases (R = lanthanide), their structure, properties and behaviour on doping are reviewed in a similar way. For the larger rare earths, the related systems R 1+ x Ba 2- x CU 3 O δ , are reviewed; as x increases, the transition temperature decreases and compositions R 1.5 Ba 1.5 Cu 3 O δ are semiconducting. The upper and lower solubility limit changes with R, and for R = Dy, the upper limit is x = 0 composition, LaBa 2 Cu 3 O δ , cannot be prepared in air since substitution of La onto the Ba site occurs, forming the Ba-deficient solid solutions. The discovery of superconductivity above liquid nitrogen temperatures in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 , has generated a vast quantity of research; to date, > 20 000 papers have appeared on the 123 materials (source: BIDS). This review, therefore, cannot be comprehensive, but attempts to highlight important substitutions, their effect on the properties of YBCO and any contradictions in the literature.

Crystal chemical substitutions and doping of YBa2CU3Ox and related superconductors

Beugungsuntersuchungen mit Synchrotron-Röntgen- und Neutronenstrahlen in der Festkörperchemie

Powdered samples of the high-temperature superconductors A Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ (A = Gd,Y) were treated with fluorine gas (100 Torr) at room temperature and 400 °C for varying times (12–64 h). Magnetic shielding measurements on fluorinated products showed that the superconducting volume fraction in treated samples was greatly reduced or even completely eradicated. All samples were structurally characterized by x-ray powder diffraction. Two yttrium samples, one fluorinated at 25 °C and one at 400 °, were also examined by neutron powder diffraction. For samples treated at room temperature, no change in the structure or composition of the products was apparent by either technique. However, samples fluorinated at 400 °C are tetragonal, with a = 3.8641 (3), c = 11.704(1) A, and bulk composition corresponding to the formula YBa 2 Cu 3 F 3.5 O 4.5 . Nuclear activation analysis, nuclear reaction analysis, and Auger spectroscopy were used to determine fluorine concentration and distribution in the fluorinated materials. For samples treated at room temperature, fluorine was found primarily within approximately 1 μm of the surface of the product particles. No evidence for a fluorinecontaining superconducting phase was found in any sample; fluorine was found to be detrimental to superconductivity in all cases. These results suggest that the 123 oxides are sensitive to surface effects.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0884291400003137

Fluorination of the high-Tc superconductors YBa2Cu3O7−δ and GdBa2Cu3O7−δ

Synthesis and characterization of fluoride-substituted RBa2Cu3O7: R = Y, Eu, La

The large number of constituent elements and high symmetry of the ordered Fe-Co-V alloys make a complete solution of its structure impossible from a single diffraction experiment. We have carried out a Rietveld refinement of the site occupancies for a partially ordered Fe-Co-V alloy using both neutron and anomalous dispersion x-ray powder diffraction data in order to obtain a complete crystallographic solution to its structure. Contrary to previous assumptions that V occupies both sites randomly or magnetic and Moessbauer studies that suggest that V has a site preference for the Fe sublattice, we find that the V dopant preferentially occupies the Co sites.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0884291400010670

Combined neutron and x-ray powder diffraction study of Fe 0.50 Co 0.48 V 0.02

Fluorination of YBa2Cu3O7−s at room temperature results in no change of the critical temperature but a drastic reduction of superconducting volume fraction as determined by magnetic flux exclusion measurements. Rietveld refinement of neutron powder diffraction data indicates that the bulk structure has not changed in any significant way despite the loss of superconductivity. In marked contrast, when the superconducting oxide is fluorinated at 400 °C, a structural transformation from orthorhombic to tetragonal symmetry occurs that is accompanied by essentially complete filling of eight of the nine perovskite anion sites and total loss of superconductivity above 7 K. Interpretation of neutron activation analysis and neutron diffraction results render the formula of the fluorinated product as YBa2Cu3F3.5O4.5, but fluoride ions in the unit cell were not distinguished from oxide ions.

A. Williams

Papers

Combined neutron and x-ray powder diffraction study of Fe 0.50 Co 0.48 V 0.02

Neutron powder diffraction study of the products from fluorinating YBa2Cu3O7−s at room temperature and at 400 °C