The influence of the magnetic properties of the amorphous matrix on the macroscopic behavior of soft nanocrystalline materials is analyzed. The random-anisotropy model is generalized to two magnetic phase systems. It is shown that recent observations dealing with a magnetic hardening at the first stage of nanocrystallization and a magnetic hardening at temperatures close to the matrix Curie temperature can be well understood with this generalization.

• Received 5 August 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.51.3581