Materials Science and Engineering A 375377 (2004) 9097

Applications of amorphous magnetic alloys

Ryusuke Hasegawa
Metglas, Inc., 440 Allied Drive, Conway, SC 29526, USA

Abstract A review is given on the relationships between the material properties and the recently-developed applications of amorphous magnetic alloys. In the electrical power area, amorphous metal-based transformers are found to have considerable impact in reducing transformer losses when the power distribution systems contain higher harmonics generated by an ever-increasing number of nonlinear loads such as modern power electronic devices, variable-speed motors, etc. In these local power conditioning devices, the versatility of amorphous metals makes it possible to realize inductors with varying performances which are used as electrical chokes, energy storage inductors, saturable cores, etc. Some of these magnetic cores nd use in telecommunication systems, examples of which include digital network interface transformers and bandpass lters in DSL. In control and sensing areas, mechanical/electrical/magnetic sensors including electronic article surveillance markers are increasingly utilizing the fast ux-reversal/low magnetic-loss nature of amorphous alloys. Recent advances made in the area of amorphous metal-based bulk magnets are also mentioned. 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Amorphous magnetic materials and applications

1. Introduction When amorphous alloys were rst fabricated by liquidquenching from the melt [1], practical applications were not considered seriously. This was partly due to their physical size being limited to small akes or disk-shaped foils but mostly due to their chemical constituents which were comprised of expensive elements such as Au, Pd, and Pt [2]. In addition, intellectual curiosity generated more interest among those in academia than in industry. The rst indication for possible use of this class of materials was given by a successful quenching of an inexpensive FePC alloy, which was strongly ferromagnetic at room temperature [3]. This alloy was somewhat brittle and therefore was not suited for practical use. This drawback was mitigated by adding semi-metals such as Si, Ge, Al, etc. to the FePC alloy, which in turn made the quenched alloys more stable and ductile [4]. The fabrication technique utilized in this nding was to rapidly solidify the molten metal on a rotating wheel. The earlier equipment could produce the material in a ribbon of up to only 23 mm in width, again limiting its use. A major advance was made when a planar-ow cast-

Tel.: +1-843-349-7321; fax: +1-843-349-6829. E-mail address: ryusuke.hasegawa@metglas.com (R. Hasegawa).

ing (PFC) was invented, which led to casting a ribbon much wider than several millimeters [5]. Due to the availability of amorphous-metal ribbon with a width of less than 5 mm prior to the invention of the PFC and a width of about 25 mm in the early development stage of the new casting process, applications were considered in mostly small electromagnetic devices such as magnetic recording heads and cores used in high frequencies [6]. By late 1982, wider ribbon with improved quality became available, which opened up possibilities of various applications in efcient energy-conversion devices including utility transformers [7]. Because of this advancement coupled and the ever-increasing energy-costs stemming from the 1975 energy crisis, energy-efcient transformers based on amorphous metal started to receive considerable attention. The utility transformers then were operated at 1.71.9 T ux levels, which had to be reduced to make them more efcient. Iron-based amorphous metals have saturation inductions near 1.6 T, which came closer to the decreasing operating-ux-densities of silicon steel-based conventional transformers. In light of this trend, in 1983 the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), which is supported by US utilities, launched a project to develop amorphous metal-based transformers in cooperation with the manufacturers of the metal and transformers and install them at the utility companies. By 1987, 1000 amorphous metal-based

0921-5093/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.msea.2003.10.258

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transformers were built and tested by 90 EPRI member utilities, triggering acceptance of the new transformers by energy-conscious utilities [8]. During this period, further advancement was made in the quality of the amorphous metal and the transformer fabrication techniques. For example, 25 kVA transformer core loss decreased from 35 W in 1982 to 16 W in 1989 [9]. Although the energy crisis of the mid 1970s appears to have been eased, energy demand and cost are increasing and will increase in future. This accompanies worsening environmental problems. In addition, with the wide use of electronic devices, the quality of electricity supplied to ofces, factories and homes is deteriorating. This, in turn, increases energy losses in the power distribution systems. In light of these emerging problems, amorphous metal-based transformers are playing a vital role in mitigating them. Some of the recent developments dealing with these issues are outlined in this review. In the area of magnetic applications of amorphous metals other than in electrical power distribution, the nature and the performance requirements of the applications are changing rapidly, reecting the fast pace of the industries relating to electronics [10], telecommunications, computers, etc. The underlying thrust or reason for the use of amorphous metal in these applications is again due to its faster ux reversal with lower magnetic losses compared with other magnetic materials. When this feature is combined with the versatility of the material with respect to alloy formation and post-fabrication heat-treatment, potential use of the material is wide open and new applications are emerging continually. Some representative examples are given in this review.

2. Electrical power system Due to the nonlinear behavior of transformer cores, it is expected that a certain level of higher harmonics exists in the power transmission systems. In addition, nonlinear power supplies, variable speed motor drives, lighting controls, arc furnaces, etc., have been known to pollute power lines [11]. One well-known consequence is transformer-re caused by the second harmonics generated mainly by lighting controls. Recent ever-increasing use of power electronics in personal computers, telecommunication devices, ofce equipment and power-conditioning systems is making the situation worse. Quantitative impact of the distortion, however, has been little evaluated. This is because actual measurements of the higher harmonic contents in power system devices are not straight forward. Knowing the importance of the situation, the industry has established an allowable upper limit for, e.g., the total harmonic distortion dened by THD = ( i2 )1/2 / i1 , where in is the nth harmonic current. n This has obscured the problem. Recent comparative studies of total transformer losses at different locations have shown quantitative results of the effects of higher harmonics on transformer losses under actual operating conditions

[12]. In these studies it was found that higher harmonic distortion affects the total transformer losses considerably and that the lower core loss observed at 50/60 Hz in amorphous metal-based transformers helps to reduce the higher harmonic losses. For example, increases in the total transformer losses of about 1000 and 600 W were observed over those under no harmonic distortion in 250 kVA units made of cold-rolled grain-oriented silicon steel and Fe-based amorphous metal, respectively. The harmonic contents were 20, 7, 9, 6 and 5%, for 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th and17th harmonics, respectively. The load was in a typical industrial site and contained variable speed motors and power electronics. In a plant with arc furnaces which generates both even and odd harmonics, the situation is worse. An increase in the total transformer loss of 400% over non-harmonic condition was observed in a 500 kVA silicon steel-based transformer whereas it was only 200% for an amorphous metal-based counterpart [12]. There are two factors affecting the transformer loss under nonlinear load: one is the BH loop behavior and the other is the frequency dependence of the eddy current part of core loss. Fig. 1 compares the BH loops for a grain-oriented silicon steel and an Fe-based amorphous alloy [13]. It is noted that the edges of the loops are more rounded for the amorphous alloy than for the silicon-steel. This reduces the eddy current loss considerably. The frequency dependence of the eddy current loss is generally proportional to fn , where n 2 for most of the soft magnetic materials. For amorphous ferromagnets, n is close to 1.5, which leads to lower higher harmonic losses in these materials than in conventional electrical steels. The ever-increasing worldwide use of electric power leads to serious environmental problems. In light of this, amorphous metal is contributing a great deal in alleviating the problem of hazardous gas generation. Fig. 2 compares the amount of CO2 gas emitted to the environment through fossil fuel use to generate electricity to run one 2000 kVA silicon steel-based or amorphous metal-based transformer over 30 years. The difference is 1000 tonnes between the two cases [14]. This is a considerable impact on the environment since there are numerous transformers of this size worldwide. A worldwide estimate of distribution transformer savings that would occur by replacing all existing units for year 2000 was about 125 TWh, which corresponds to about 125 million tonnes/year of CO2 gas reduction. Realizing this impact, the Japanese government has introduced the Top Runner Program in which a minimum standard for the transformer core loss has been reduced considerably [15].

3. Electronics 3.1. Power electronics The main function of power electronics is to supply specied power with regulated voltages. Since the line frequency is 50/60 Hz, the initial power conversion is from ac to dc,

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Fig. 1. BH behaviors for an amorphous Fe-based alloy and a conventional siliconsteel.

followed by dc-to-dc conversions matching the voltages required for different components. The main power source in automobiles is currently dc at 12 V which is shifting to 42 V to meet the increasing electrical need. In future automotive power supplies, therefore, dc converters from 42 V to differ-

ent voltages will be necessary. In these converters, voltage regulations are conveniently achieved by utilizing magnetic switches. The principle of operation of a magnetic switch is shown in Fig. 3, in which during the switch-on period the inductor is magnetically saturated (S) with a positive

Fig. 2. 2000 kVA transformer losses converted to CO2 gas emission over 30 years transformer life of amorphous metal-based (lower curve) and siliconsteel-based (upper curve) transformers.

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Fig. 3. Principle of operation of a magnetic switch.

current, in the reset period the core traverses the BH loop toward remanence (R) with a negative current, achieving resetting at cores coercivity (Hc ), and the switch-off period is initiated by reversing the current in the inductor. The magnetic ux change during the on-reset-off operation controls the converter output, for which reason the inductor

is often called magnetic amplier. For a precise voltage control, the BH loop should be as square as possible and Co-based amorphous alloys are among the most suited as shown in Fig. 4. For a metallic magnetic material, its BH loop width increases with frequency and loop edges tend to bulge out as shown for a crystalline 80% Ni Permalloy,

Fig. 4. Representative high frequency BH characteristics of ferrites, amorphous Co-based alloys and crystalline 80% Ni Permalloy.

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the loop of which was taken at 100 kHz. Amorphous magnetic alloys show a similar trend, but with much less inuence from the frequency increase. The performance of ferrite, being an insulator, is relatively unchanged with frequency. The data for these two materials shown in Fig. 4 were taken at 50 kHz. Another component which is needed in a power converter is called choke coil, the function of which is to smooth out ripples in the current source. For this application, the magnetic core should not be saturated with a large current passing through the inductor coil. This requires a BH loop behavior shown in Fig. 5A. This is an ideal case and is usually substituted with a loop of Fig. 5B, which is achieved by introducing a microstructure with relatively random local magnetic anisotropies. Obviously the loop opening near the origin should be as small as possible to reduce inductors magnetic loss. 3.2. Power conditioning The problem associated with harmonic distortion in power lines was mentioned in Section 2. One problem arises from the wide use of power electronics just described. To minimize the overall effects, each power supply is equipped with

a common-mode and a differential-mode choke, the former to reduce noises carried by the incoming and outgoing line current and the latter to mitigate noises present in either incoming or outgoing line. A common-mode choke then requires a relatively high permeability; a differential-mode choke has a low permeability so that it does not become saturated with the high current passing through its coil. The corresponding BH loops look like curve A of Fig. 6 and Fig. 5, respectively. Another power conditioning inductor used at the input end of a power electronics device is for power factor correction, which is functionally similar to a PFC inductor used in power transmission systems. A cut C-shaped core with a medium permeability and low magnetic loss is usually used for this application. The BH loop of this core resembles that of Fig. 5. 3.3. Telecommunication To assure reliable digital signal transmission on existing communication lines, a number of interface transformers are needed. These transformers have to pass digital signals which are basically in pulse forms without any conventional ac and dc components superimposed on them. To achieve this, the transformer core must have a high linear

Fig. 5. BH behavior of (A) an ideal soft magnet for an electrical choke and (B) for a typical amorphous metal-based choke core.

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Fig. 6. dc BH characteristics showing linear dependence of induction B on eld H. (A) For a low induction and (B) for a high induction alloy.

permeability up to a certain applied magnetic eld as shown by curve A in Figs. 6 or 7. A high permeability is necessary for effective signal transmission and a linear BH behavior assures off-setting dc components in the transmission line without affecting the quality of digital signals. The degree of the dc off-setting depends on the upper limit of the BH linearity. Cobalt-based amorphous alloys are widely used for this application.

A recent trend in telecommunication is to utilize one single line in multiple purposes (commonly known as DSL) including conventional telephone voice transmission and digital signal transmission such as required for modems. This operation requires bandpass lters for different frequency ranges utilized for specic signal transmission. A passive bandpass lter is basically an LC resonant circuit and its central resonant frequency fr is given by (LC)1/2 /2. The

Fig. 7. High frequency (10 kHz) permeability as a function of dc bias eld for alloy A and B of Fig. 6.

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resonant frequency is tuned to the signal carrier frequency by choosing a pertinent combination of the inductance L and the capacitance C. The incoming signal current varies with the signal, resulting in varying magnetic eld on the core material of the inductor L. Thus the core material should have a linear BH behavior of curve B in Fig. 6 or 7 so that the frequency fr does not change with the incoming signal intensity. The essential characteristics of curve B in Fig. 6 or 7 are the same with those of curve A in the same gures, the former being suited for the magnetic components carrying large currents. Material-wise the former requires a larger magnetic anisotropy than the latter. Co-based amorphous alloys with higher saturation inductions are used for this application. 4. Sensors Various sensors utilizing amorphous magnetic alloys have been reviewed recently [10] and only new developments are summarized below. 4.1. Remote temperature sensor The non-linear BH behavior commonly found in a soft magnetic material generates higher harmonic responses when excited with an ac magnetic eld. Since amorphous ferromagnets with the BH characteristics shown in Fig. 4 can have high permeabilities and low coercivities, the higher harmonic generation is easily achieved in these materials. It has been proposed that tracking the temperature dependence of the higher harmonic signals from amorphous metal strips leads to determining the temperature of the sensing element with an accuracy of a conventional thermocouple [16]. The excitation and signal detection can be done through electromagnetic coupling; therefore remote sensing or monitoring of the temperature of inaccessible objects becomes possible. 4.2. Remote stress sensor Magnetoelastic effect couples the magnetization in a ferromagnet with a stress applied on the material through magnetostriction. Thus permeability of a soft magnetostrictive material varies with the applied stress. If this material is used as a core material of an inductor L in a typical LC circuit, the inductance of L and therefore the circuit resonant frequency shifts with the stress on the core material. By interrogating the resonance frequency of the LC circuit, the core of which is attached to an object to be sensed, the stress level on the object can be determined remotely [17]. Using the resonance frequency formula given above for an LC circuit, one can estimate the frequency shift fr /fr (1/2) L/L = (1/2) /. For this application, the quality factor Q of the LC circuit has to be high so that the interrogation can be effective, meaning low magnetic losses in the core material. In addition, the magnetoelastic coupling needs to be high, requiring a relatively high magnetostriction and a

low magnetic anisotropy K. Thus factors Q, and K have to be optimized in selecting a pertinent amorphous alloy. 4.3. Strain sensor Using the same principle mentioned above, i.e. inverse magnetostrictive effect, a thin magnetostrictive amorphous metal lm was used as a strain sensor for a micro-actuator [18]. To get a maximum magnetization rotation and hence a maximum sensor impedance change, the magnetic anisotropy direction was chosen 90 away from the sensing direction. It is reported that the sensor was sensitive enough to detect a strain force of less than 1 mN [18]. Since the sensing element is not part of a resonance circuit, quality factor Q is not an issue and only high magnetostriction is an important factor: other requirements such as low magnetic losses are provided by using amorphous metal. A change in the material strain results in a corresponding change in the permeability of the material because of inverse magnetostriction as mentioned above. One consequence of this is a change in the skin depth (1/2 ), which varies as (1/2) /. A strain sensor then can be considered using the giant magnetoimpedance effect [17]. 4.4. Electronic article surveillance There are two major electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems utilizing magnetics: one is based on magnetomechanical resonance and the other on harmonic signal generation. The advances made for the former system were discussed earlier [10]. For the latter technology, a recent addition to the family of useful materials is a low cobalt-containing amorphous alloy which generates stronger signals than the existing material [19]. For example, a 1 mm wide and 76 mm long as-cast strip of an amorphous metal alloy containing about 40 at.% Ni30 at.% Co, with the rest being Fe, B and Si, shows a 50% increase in the detection signal amplitude over a currently-used amorphous metal strip with about 70 at.% Co. Another system used widely in EAS is based on a radiofrequency technique in which a spirally-wound antenna is connected to a capacitor, forming an LC resonance circuit. An interrogating electromagnetic wave resonates with this circuit, identifying the article. The capacitor part is disconnected upon deactivation. A new hybrid tag has been proposed by combining the RF and the above-mentioned harmonic technology [20]. In this tag, harmonics-generating elements are inserted into the RF resonant circuit as an active part of the circuit. The improved harmonic marker strip mentioned above will enhance the performance of this dual tag.

5. Bulk magnet A recent study indicates that a bulk glassy Fe-based magnet (710 m 970 m in size) prepared by ux-melting

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followed by water-quenching shows excellent soft magnetic properties [21]. The composition of the soft magnet is Fe65.5 Cr4 Mo4 Ga4 P12 B5.5 C5 , and its saturation induction and magnetostriction are 0.75 T and 15 ppm, respectively. The DC properties for an annealed sample include Hc = 0.35 A/m and a maximum permeability of 200,000300,000. The low coercivity which is comparable (Hc = 0.5 A/m) to that of a near-zero magnetostrictive amorphous alloy suggests that the material is structurally homogeneous. The ac properties at low frequencies, e.g. at 50 Hz, are comparable or better than much thinner (100 m) amorphous metal ribbons. However, at higher frequencies, magnetic loss is higher than that of a corresponding Fe-based amorphous ribbon. For example, at 1000 Hz the bulk magnet in an annealed state shows a core loss of about 13 W/kg whereas the ribbon exhibits a loss of about 3 W/kg at the same induction of 0.6 T. One feature which is of interest is the lower number of 1 for the anomalous-to-classical eddy current-loss ratio in the present material whereas it is close to 100 in the ribbon material. This may indicate that the number of domain walls is higher in the bulk material than in the ribbon. This does not contradict the low coercivity in the bulk material: if the material is homogeneous, wall pinning strength is uniformly low. By laminating thin amorphous ribbon, a bulk magnet can be fabricated. One earlier example was to laminate 410 layers of ribbon by hot pressing [22]. These consolidated materials were tested with good results for stacked core transformer applications [8]. More recently, stacked cores have been fabricated by cutting portions from wound cores with large dimensions. One such application is found on pole magnets for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment [23]. These pole piece magnets are attached to electromagnets or permanent magnets and supply mostly a high dc eld corresponding to the NMR resonance frequency and a small ac modulating eld. Thus high permeability and low coercivity are required for the pole pieces. 6. Conclusion Magnetic applications of amorphous metal are wide, covering from small micro-sensors to large electrical power

devices. In addition, the nature and the scope of the existing applications are changing rapidly with a number of new technologies emerging. Thus new materials and fabrication processes are needed to meet the demands. The unique properties achievable in amorphous alloys must be updated continually to advance the technologies involved. In the process, new scientic ndings will result.

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