A study on the correlation between micro and magnetic domain structure of Cu52Ni34Fe14 spinodal alloys

Magnetic spinodal alloys are ideal materials for studying the relationship between the microstructure of analloy and its magnetic properties. To unravel this relation, a profound knowledge of the chemical as well asthe magnetic microstructure, i.e. the magnetic domain structure, is necessary. However, mapping themagnetic domain structure is rarely accomplished even though it is of major interest for both, fundamentalresearch as well as applications using such alloys.In this study, the magnetic domain structure as well as the evolution of the microstructure of spinodallydecomposed Cu52Ni34Fe14 alloys is investigated with various modern (scanning) transmission electronmicroscopy ((S)TEM) methods. The magnetic domain structure was mapped using differential phase contrastimaging (STEM DPC) and magnetic-force microscopy (MFM). The chemical microstructure was determinedusing high-angle annular dark field imaging (HAADF) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDXS) elemental mapping.