Microstructure and magnetic properties of high silicon electrical steel produced by electron beam physical vapor deposition

High silicon electrical steel was produced by electron beam physical vapor deposition. The composition, surface microstructure and cross-section microstructure, phase and preferential orientation of the electrical steel were characterized. The results show that the silicon content of the material is about 6.5 wt%. The side of the as-deposited electrical steel close to the substrate is composed of DO₃ phase equiaxial grains of 1 μm. The side far from the substrate is composed of Fe₃Si phase columnar grains of 2-3 μm. There are weak single-crystal texture {1 1 1} 〈0 1 1〉 and fiber texture {0 0 1}. The electrical resistivity and static magnetic properties are also measured using a four-probe method and vibrating sample magnetometer, respectively. The results show that the electrical resistivity is about 90 μΩ cm and the specific saturation magnetization is 2.31×10^-2 Wb/kg.