Low temperature thermal conductivity of amorphous (Fe, Ni, Co) (P, B, Si) alloys and their change by heat treatment

The thermal conductivity of amorphous metallic alloys (Fe, Ni, Co)/sub 1-x/ (B, P, Si)/sub x/ is measured in the temperature range 2 to 100 K in the as-produced and heat-treated states. By taking into account the results of Matey and Anderson the influence of the nature of the metalloid and the number of metallic components can be discussed. The change of the thermal conductivity due to a structural relaxation caused by a heat treatment is very different. In the whole range of temperature a rise of the phonon thermal conductivity of the Fe-Co-B alloy is obtained, whereas no change is observed for the Fe-B alloy. At low temperature (< 40 K) the thermal conductivity of the Fe-Ni-P-B alloy increases by heat treatment, whereas at higher temperatures a reduction is observed. Additionally the thermal conductivity of the recrystallized alloy Fe80B20 is investigated. (author)