Crystalline evolution and large coercivity in Dy-doped (Nd,Dy)₂Fe₁₄B/α-Fe nanocomposite magnets

Abstract

Nanocomposite hard magnetic materials (Nd,Dy)4.5Fe77.5B18 (No. 1) and (Nd,Dy)4.5Fe76B18Nb1.2Cu0.3 (No. 2) have been prepared by crystallizing amorphous ribbons, fabricated by single roll melt-spinning. The evolution of a multiphase structure was monitored by an x-ray diffractometer and by thermomagnetic measurement. We observed that, at annealing temperatures below 670??C, there is crystallization of soft phase Fe3B and a small amount of hard phase Nd2Fe14B. At annealing temperatures above 670??C, crystallization of ?-Fe and probably Dy2Fe14B phases with large magnetocrystalline anisotropy led to a drastic enhancement in the hard magnetic properties of the materials. The maximum value of HC is found to be 4.2?kOe for sample No. 1. For sample No. 2, with co-doping of Nb and Cu, nanostructure refinement yields a strong enhancement in exchange coupling between the component phases. Thereby, we obtained high reduced-remanence of 0.78, high remanence of 1.15 and a high (BH)max value up to 16.2?MGOe.