Magnetic properties of Nd–Fe–Co(Cu)–Al–B amorphous alloys prepared by nonequilibrium techniques

Abstract

The amorphous alloys Nd40Fe40Co5Al8B7, Nd57Fe20Co5Al10B8, and Nd57Fe20Cu5Al10B8 were prepared by copper mold casting, melt spinning, and mechanical alloying. Despite their similar x-ray diffraction patterns, samples display different magnetic and thermal behavior correlated with the method of preparation. The fully amorphous melt-spun ribbons exhibit relatively soft magnetic properties with coercivities ≈40 kA/m at room temperature and a Curie temperature (TC)≈474 K. Apparently only the mold-cast cylinders of 3 mm diameter show hard magnetic behavior with a coercivity in the range of 258–270 kA/m (depending on composition) and have approximately the same TC as that of the melt-spun ribbons. An additional magnetic transition at 585 K due to the presence of Nd2Fe14B phase in the case of Nd40Fe40Co5Al8B7 cast rod has been observed. Heat treatment above crystallization temperature in as-cast Nd57Fe20Co5Al10B8 and Nd57Fe20Cu5Al10B8 samples destroys the hard magnetic properties. In contrast, mechanically alloyed amorphous samples are soft magnetic with maximum coercivity up to 11 kA/m but show an entirely different TC≈680–740 K, which is rather characteristic of an Fe solid solution. The magnetic properties are discussed in terms of different local atomic environment and cluster sizes in amorphous samples prepared by different methods.