Provided are materials that include one or more metals in solid solution with a level of nitrogen that is at a concentration higher than the a solubility limit of nitrogen in the alloy in a liquid state at atmospheric pressure. The materials may be utilized as a protective layer on a substrate, such as an Al containing substrate. Also provided are methods of forming the solid solution materials and articles employing them on a surface of a substrate.

A Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy powder having an alloy composition represented by the following Composition Formula (1) and having an alloy structure including nanocrystal particles:

Fe.sub.100-a-b-c-d-e-f-gCu.sub.aSi.sub.bB.sub.cMo.sub.dCr.sub.eC.sub.fNb.sub.g Composition Formula (1), in which 100-a-b-c-d-e-f-g, a, b, c, d, e, f, and g each represent a percent (%) by atom of a relevant element, and a, b, c, d, e, f, and g satisfy 0.10a1.10, 13.00b16.00, 7.00c12.00, 0.50d5.00, 0.001e1.50, 0.05f0.40, and 0(g/(d+g))0.50, in Composition Formula (1).

The metallurgical composition comprises a main particulate metallic material, for example iron or nickel, and at least one alloy element for hardening the main metallic material, which form a structural matrix; a particulate solid lubricant, such as graphite, hexagonal boron nitride or mixture thereof; and a particulate alloy element which is capable of forming, during the sintering of the composition conformed by compaction or by injection molding, a liquid phase, agglomerating the solid lubricant in discrete particles. The composition may comprise an alloy component to stabilize the alpha-iron matrix phase, during the sintering, in order to prevent the graphite solid lubricant from being solubilized in the iron. The invention further refers to the process for obtaining a self-lubricating sintered product.

To provide a sheet formed product that, in addition to being thin, has a small groove interval, groove width, and groove depth, that has a large contact surface area with oxygen gas or hydrogen gas, that is suitable for simply and at low cost producing a lightweight compact separator, and a manufacturing method for same. In the sheet formed product (amorphous thin sheet) according to the present invention, a metal matrix on which is formed a passivation layer on a surface layer thereof and that exhibits corrosion resistance has a three-dimensional surface structure, for example a groove-like uneven shape on a surface thereof. On the front surface having the uneven shape (or also on the back surface), particles of a conductive material component penetrate the passivation layer, and are exposed on the surface without being in solid solution in the metal matrix.

The disclosure discloses a method for preparing a -Fe.sub.4N soft magnetic material by using liquid nitrogen through high-speed ball milling, and belongs to the field of the soft magnetic material. According to the method of the disclosure, high energy in the liquid nitrogen is used for obtaining a nanometer material Fe.sub.xN with a nitrogen atom supersaturation degree through cryogrinding. At a low temperature, the material is very brittle, and a surface volume ratio is very high, so that a content of nitrogen atoms adsorbed on a surface of a sample is as high as 22%. Through 300 C. post-annealing, -Fe.sub.4N is directly obtained from -Fe through phase change, so that a nanometer crystal -Fe.sub.4N soft magnetic material is prepared. The method of the disclosure has the advantages that an operation is simple and convenient, the cost is low, the large-scale industrialized production can be realized, and the method belongs to a novel alternative method for preparing a high-grade soft magnetic material with ideal magnetism. The -Fe.sub.4N soft magnetic material prepared by the method of the disclosure has the advantages of high Ms, low coercivity and high surface resistivity, and can be used for a transformer and an inductor operated in a high-frequency semiconductor switch.

In an exemplary embodiment, a magnetic alloy powder is constituted by magnetic grains 100 whose alloy phase 1 is coated with an oxide film 2, wherein: the alloy phase 1 has a Fe content of 98 percent by mass or higher and also contains Si and at least one type of non-Si element that oxidizes more easily than Fe (element M); and the oxide film 2 is such that, at the location where the content of Si as expressed in percentage by mass is the highest according to the element distributions in the direction of film thickness, this content of Si is higher than the content of Fe, and also higher than the content of element M, at this location. The magnetic alloy powder has a high Fe content and also offers excellent insulating property.

A crystalline Fe-based alloy powder composed of Fe-based alloy particles containing, within a structure thereof, nanocrystal grains having an average grain size of 30 nm or less, and in which d50, which is a particle diameter corresponding to a cumulative frequency of 50% by volume, is from 3.5 m to 35.0 m in a cumulative distribution curve that is obtained by laser diffractometry and that shows the relationship between the particle diameter and the cumulative frequency from the small particle diameter side, and a ratio of Fe-based alloy particles having a particle diameter of 2 m or less to the total of the Fe-based alloy particles, which is determined by laser diffractometry, is from 0% by volume to 8% by volume.

A method for manufacturing a powder magnetic core includes: a step of preparing a soft magnetic powder and an oxide powder and preparing, as a raw material powder, a mixed powder of the soft magnetic powder and the oxide powder, the soft magnetic powder containing composite soft magnetic particles containing pure iron and an Fe- alloy having an element more oxidizable than Fe, the composite soft magnetic particles each having a core-shell structure where a core is made of one of pure iron and the Fe- alloy and a shell is made of the other, the oxide powder containing oxide particles containing at least one selected from Fe and an element that forms an oxide having higher electrical resistance than Fe.sub.3O.sub.4; a step of compacting the mixed powder into a green compact; and a step o sintering the green compact at 900 C. or more and 1300 C. or less.

A method for manufacturing a powder magnetic core includes: a step of preparing a soft magnetic powder and an oxide powder and preparing, as a raw material powder, a mixed powder of the soft magnetic powder and the oxide powder, the soft magnetic powder containing composite soft magnetic particles containing pure iron and an Fe- alloy having an element more oxidizable than Fe, the composite soft magnetic particles each having a core-shell structure where a core is made of one of pure iron and the Fe- alloy and a shell is made of the other, the oxide powder containing oxide particles containing at least one selected from Fe and an element that forms an oxide having higher electrical resistance than Fe.sub.3O.sub.4; a step of compacting the mixed powder into a green compact; and a step o sintering the green compact at 900 C. or more and 1300 C. or less.

There is provided a BN-containing ferromagnetic material sputtering target which is capable of suppressing generation of particles during sputtering. A sputtering target containing from 1 to 40 at. % of B and from 1 to 30 at. % of N and comprising a structure including at least one ferromagnetic metal-containing metal phase and at least one nonmagnetic material phase, wherein an X-ray diffraction profile obtained by analyzing the structure with an X-ray diffraction method exhibits a diffraction peak derived from cubic boron nitride.