In situ high-temperature transmission electron microscopy investigation of dynamic element migration for Sm-Co-Fe-Cu-Zr sintered magnets

Abstract

The investigation delved into the dynamic migration of elements and the evolution of interface structures within the Sm(CobalFe0.09Cu0.09Zr0.03)7.2 magnet as temperature increased, employing high-temperature transmission electron microscopy. Notably, the Cu distribution exhibited temperature susceptibility. Elevating the temperature from room temperature (RT) to 400 °C led to a notable expansion in the distribution width of Cu, ranging from 28.5 to 50.8 nm. Simultaneously, the average Cu content at the cell boundaries decreased from 14.4 to 11.6 at.%. According to the high-temperature in-situ experimental results of the transmission electron microscopy thin-film samples, the derived diffusion coefficients, D300°Cand D400°C, were determined as 0.0525 nm2/s and 1.414 nm2/s, respectively. The significantly higher D400°C compared to D300°C underscores the considerable influence of temperature on Cu element diffusion behavior. The simulation results demonstrate that the trend of magnetic properties variation at different temperatures closely aligns with the observed trend. Subsequent calculation of the temperature coefficient of intrinsic coercivity (β) reveals that |β300–400°C| is notably higher than |βRT-300°C|. This suggests a substantial impact of Cu diffusion-induced deterioration on the β. Moreover, micromagnetic simulation results delineated the reverse magnetization process for magnets at varying temperatures, revealing that the presence of the Cu diffusion region diminished the pinning effect of the cell boundary phase. Furthermore, a wider Cu diffusion region facilitated easier magnetic moment reversal at the cell boundary phase, resulting in a marked deterioration of intrinsic coercivity. This elucidates that the formation of the Cu diffusion region stands as one of the primary reasons for the sharp decline in magnetic properties of Sm2Co17-type magnets under high-temperature conditions.