Characterization of magnetic degradation mechanism in a high-neutron-flux environment

Abstract

Radiation-induced demagnetization of permanent magnets can result in the failure of magnet-based devices operating in high-radiation environments. To understand the mechanism underlying demagnetization, Nd-Fe-B magnets were irradiated with fast and fast plus thermal neutrons at fluences of 1012, 1013, 1014, and 1015n/cm2, respectively. After irradiation, magnetic flux losses were shown to increase with the fluence. Compared with samples irradiated only with fast neutrons, the samples exposed to the fast plus thermal neutrons have higher magnetic flux losses, which is attributed to the thermal neutron capture reaction of boron. Hysteresis loops of the Nd-Fe-B magnets reveal a slightly increase in the coercivity after irradiation. Full remagnetization of the samples after irradiation was possible, which indicates that structural damage is unlikely an important factor in the demagnetization process at these levels of neutron flux and fluence. Finally, we performed a preliminary Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation on a cube of ions to obtain a better understanding of the thermal spike mechanism.