Rapidly solidified ribbons of Cu-Fe alloys with iron contents up to 20 at.−% have been prepared by melt-spinning. Optical and electron microscopy as well as x-ray and electron diffraction techniques were used to characterize quantitatively the microstructure, i.e., grain size and shape, solubility of iron, lattice parameter, volume fraction and distribution of precipitated iron-particles, etc.

Whereas the free surfaces of melt-spun Cu-Fe ribbons have been found to be very smooth, the contact surfaces usually consist of isolated areas of good thermal contact with small equiaxed grains separated by bands without contact during casting and therefore poor heat transfer. The cross sections of the ribbons generally exhibit a strong anisotropy in their microstructure: very fine crystals adjacent to the contact surface develop into narrow columnar grains, generally significantly elongated and extending across the whole section. The average columnar width of the grains has been found to decrease significantly with increasing iron content. Precipitation of iron not only depends on the iron content but also on the distance from the contact surface.