Microstructure and magnetic properties of Mn–X–N (X: Ni, Zr, and B) sintered alloys

Abstract

Microstructure and magnetic properties of Mn–X–N (X: Ni, Zr, and B) alloy system were investigated in this study. The samples showed low remanence; however, relatively high coercivities of 0.5–4.4 kOe (40–350 kA/m) were obtained in the Mn–Ni–N system. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM–EDX) and transmission electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (TEM-EDX) analyses revealed that the Mn–Ni–N sample with high coercivity consists of a lamellar structure with the spacing of 0.5–2 μm. It is also found that the lamellar structure is composed of two phases with composition of 97.4 at% Mn–2.6 at% Ni and 86.7 at% Mn–13.3 at% Ni.