Hierarchical assembly of Sm2Co7/Co magnetic nanoparticles into highly stable and uniform nanospheres

Hierarchical assembly of colloidal Sm2Co7/Co clusters in the form of nanospheres has been processed through a polyol process. The SmCo nanospheres are found to be robust, uniform ( 100 nm) and tend to self-assemble in the form of ordered superstructures. Each nanosphere consists of large number of discrete fine particles ( 6.0 nm), having two-phase structure of both Sm2Co7 and Co-phases. Upon annealing, these phases transform into Sm2Co17 phase with very high magnetization (169 emu/g). A possible mechanism on the formation of nanospheres from the individual Sm2Co2o7 and Co nanoparticles is also discussed.     

退火温度对SmCo永磁薄膜微结构及磁性能的影响

采用直流磁控溅射法制备SmCo薄膜,研究了退火温度对薄膜微结构及磁性能的影响。XRD分析结果表明,当退火温度为600℃时,SmCo5相析出,而Sm2Co17相在700℃析出。SEM照片可看出,退火温度高于900℃时,六方柱状的SmCo5相和菱方状的Sm2Co17相全部析出。随着退火温度的升高,晶粒尺寸增大,当温度达940℃时,晶粒尺寸减小,而在980℃时,晶粒尺寸又将增大。VSM测试表明,与制备态的薄膜相比,退火后的薄膜在垂直于膜面方向的矫顽力、剩余磁化强度及最大磁能积都增大。960℃时得到矫顽力和剩余磁化强度的最大值,800℃时得到最大磁能积的最大值。     

Nanostructured SmCo5 thin films with perpendicular anisotropy formed in a wide range of Sm-Co compositions

In this work, we prepared SmCo5 thin films with (0001) texture exhibiting perpendicular anisotropy in a wide range of Sm(x)Co(100-x) compositions (x = 13.2 approximately 37.0) on Cu/Ta underlayers. At a composition of Sm16.7Co83.3 (SmCo5), the SmCo5 film exhibits a maximum perpendicular coercivity of 18.2 kOe, which is attributed to a good crystallinity and an excellent (000l) texture. The SmCo5 (000l) peaks are shifted to smaller angles compared to the standard powder sample which indicates the formation of a SmCoCu alloy through Cu diffusion. The EDX result for this sample gives a composition of SmCo3Cu2.1 which confirms Cu diffusion into the SmCo5 layer. TEM image shows that SmCo5 film is well crystallized with a grain size of 50 nm.     

Application of Hydrogen in the Production of Sintered Anisotropic Nanostructured Magnets from Alloys of Rare-Earth and Transition Metals

Materials Science - The main stages of the procedure of hydrogen treatment of ferromagnetic materials based on Nd2Fe14B, SmCo5, and Sm2Co17 compounds of rare-earth and transition metals aimed at...     

Sm-Co hard magnetic nanoparticles prepared by surfactant-assisted ball milling

Hard magnetic nanoparticles based on the Sm(2)Co(17) and SmCo(5) systems have been successfully produced using a surfactant-assisted ball milling technique. A size-selection process has been developed to obtain nanoparticles of different sizes with narrow size distribution. Significant room-temperature coercivity up to 3.1?kOe has been achieved with the Sm(2)Co(17)-based nanoparticles of an average size of 23?nm. It has been found that surfactants play multifold roles in the processing.     

Dependence of exchange coupling on interfacial conditions in SmCo5/Co system: a first-principles study

We have performed first-principles calculations to study the interfacial exchange coupling in a SmCo5/Co multilayer model system. The hard phase hcp SmCo5 and the soft phase hcp Co (or Co(1-x)Fe(x)) stacking along (1010) direction are structurally well matched. The atomic structure, including the alignment and the separation between layers, were optimized first. Then the non-collinear magnetic structures were calculated to explore the exchange coupling dependence on the variation of the atomic composition across the interface. We found that the inter-phase exchange coupling strength is strongly dependent on the interface condition between the hard and soft phase by comparing the exchange coupling strengths in different interface conditions. The findings were further confirmed by the calculated site-to-site exchange parameters across the interface.     

Electronic band structure and spin-density maps of SmCo5

We present first-principles calculations on SmCo₅ using the self-consistent full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FPLAPW) method. We systematically study the effect of considering the spin–orbit coupling and Coulomb correlations in the Sm f shell on the magnetic properties, electronic structure and spin-density maps. The calculated magnetic moment and magnetocrystalline anisotropy are in good agreement with experimental values when the LDA + U + SO scheme is used. This confirms the adequacy of using this scheme in SmCo₅. The spin-density maps in the (0 0 1) plane show that the effect of the spin–orbit coupling on the spin-density structure of Sm atoms is stronger than that of Coulomb correlation. The reverse however, is true for Co atoms. We also study the influence of the magnetization direction on the energy bands through comparing the features of band structure when magnetization direction is along or perpendicular to the c-axis.     

Magnetic Ordering and Exchange Interaction of Laves Compounds Sm0.9Pr0.1（Fe1—xCox）2

Structure,magnetic properties and magnetostriction of Sm0.9Pr0.1(Fe1-xCox)2 compounds have been investi-gated by means of X-ray diffraction,a.c. initial susceptibility, extracting sample magnetometer,Mossbauer spec-troscopy and standard strain gauge techniques.The lattice parameter a of the MgCu2-type Laves compounds Sm0.9Pr0.1(Fe1-xCox)2 decreases nonlinearly with increasing Co concentration,deviating from the Vegardˊs law.Curie temperature Tc increases initially from 668 K for x=0 to 694 K for x=0.2 and then decreases to 200 K for x=1.0.The saturation magnetization Ms at temperatures 1.5K, 77K and 300K have the same variation tendency as the composition dependence of Curie temperature,in consistence with rigid-band model.The easy magnetization direction(EMD) od Sm0.9Pr0.1(Fe1-xCox)2 lies along [111] direction in the range x≤0.6,and changes to [110] for x=0.8 ,while Sm0.9Pr0.1(Fe1-xCox)2 stays in the paramagnetic state at room temperature.The composition dependence of the average hyperfine field,Hhf,demonstrates a similar variation tendency as that of the saturation magnetiza-tion Ms and Curie temperature Tc .The spontaneous magnetostricton λ111 increases with increasing Co content.The saturation magnetostriction λs decreases monotonically with increasing x,which is caused by the increase of magnetostriction constant λ100 with opposite sign to that of λ111.A two-sublattice model has been proposed to understand the intermediate region between the [111]and [110] spin configurations ,which can also be used to explain the temperature dependence of magnetization.     

Interaction Effects in SmCo/FeCo Bilayer Film Media

The magnetic property of Sm22Co78/Fe65Co35 bilayer film media prepared by magnetron sputtering was measured. All the samples have in-plane anisotropy and the hysteresis loops are simple single loops, indicating that the two phases are strongly exchange-coupled. The reduced remanence (Mr/Ms) was found to increase from 0.58 to 0.8 with increasing Fe65Co35 layer thickness (d) for a fixed Sm22Co78 layer thickness. The coercivity was found to increase with increasing a few Fe65Co35 layer, and then to decrease with continuously increasing Fe65Cos5 layer. The intergranular exchange and magnetostatic interaction effects were measured from their remanence magnetization curves.     

Magnetic properties, phase evolution, and microstructure of melt spun Hf-substituted Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)(x)Cy (x = 5-9; y = 0-0.1) nanocomposites

Magnetic properties, phase evolution, and microstructure of melt spun Hf-substituted Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)(x)Cy (x = 5-9; y = 0-0.1) ribbons quenched at the wheel speed of 40 m/s are investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the main phases existed in Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)(x) ribbons are 1:5 phase for x = 5-5.5; 1:5 and 1:7 phases for x = 6; 1:7 phase for x = 6.5-7.5; 1:7 and 2:17 phases for x = 8; and only 2:17 phase for x = 8.5-9, respectively. For Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)(x) (x = 5-9) ribbons, the optimum magnetic properties of B(r) = 5.6 kG, (i)H(c)= 15.6 kOe and (BH)(max) = 7.1 MGOe are obtained for Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)6.5 ribbons. Furthermore, a slight amount of C addition in Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)(x) ribbons slightly modify phase constitution and effectively refine the grain size from 200-700 nm for C free ribbons to 10-70 nm, strengthening the exchange coupling effect between magnetic grains of the ribbons. As a result, magnetic properties are further improved. The magnetic properties of B(r) = 6.9 kG, (i)H(c) = 9.2 kOe and (BH)(max) = 10.0 MGOe can be achieved for Sm(Co0.97Hf0.03)7.5C0.1 nanocomposites.     

Self-nanoscaling of the soft magnetic phase in bulk SmCo/Fe nanocomposite magnets

Fabrication of bulk nanocomposite materials, which contain a magnetically hard phase and a magnetically soft phase with desired nanoscale morphology and composition distribution has proven to be challenging. Here we demonstrate that SmCo/Fe(Co) hard/soft nanocomposite materials can be produced by distributing the soft magnetic α-Fe(Co) phase particles homogenously in a hard magnetic SmCo phase matrix through a combination of high-energy ball milling and a warm compaction. Severe plastic deformation during the ball milling results in nanoscaling of the soft phase with size reduction from micrometers to ~15 nm. Up to 35% of the soft phase can be incorporated into the composites without coarsening. This process produces fully dense bulk isotropic nanocomposite materials with remarkable energy-product enhancement (up to 300%) owing to effective inter-phase exchange coupling.     

Effect of Variable Biquadratic Exchange Coupling on the Magnetic Hysteresis of Uniaxial Antiferromagnetic Co/Ru/Co Films

We investigated biquadratic exchange coupling strength in sputtered uniaxial antiferromagnetic Co/Ru/Co trilayers, which can be tuned by applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the sample surface during deposition. The perpendicular field induces a columnar grain structure that results in a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for single Co layers. The perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is detected by combined magnetization and Brillouin light scattering measurements. In trilayers, increasing the perpendicular field during deposition results in a monotonic increase of the biquadratic exchange coupling strength, so these samples provide an experimental realization of the effect of variable biquadratic coupling strength on magnetic hysteresis behavior. The hard-axis remanence is a direct measure of biquadratic exchange coupling strength, which we demonstrated both by experiment and by a Stoner-Wohlfarth model that includes the relevant magnetic parameters.     

Peculiarities of the magnetization reversal in heterophase nanocomposite permanent magnets

We have studied the process of magnetization reversal in a thin-film Fe/Sm₂Co₇ exchange coupled bilayer structure under the action of an in-plane external field. An analysis of the local magnetization changes, as measured using the magnetooptical indicator film technique, showed that the magnetization reversal proceeds by inhomogeneous rotation of the magnetic moments in Fe and SmCo layers, both in plane and in the perpendicular direction. It is established that, because of the exchange interaction between layers, the magnetization reversal along the easy axis in the entire structure is determined primarily by the formation of exchange-induced spin helices and domain walls in the magnetically soft layer, whereas the magnetization reversal at an angle of α with respect to the easy axis plays a significant role in the magnetically hard layer and becomes dominating for α=90°.     

Microstructure,Magnetic Properties,and Thermal Stability of Bulk Anisotropic SmCo7/α-Fe(Co) + Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe Multiphase Nanohybrid Magnets

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - In this report, we have fabricated anisotropic bulk SmCo7/α-Fe(Co)?+?Nd2Fe14B/α-Fe multiphase nanohybrid magnets using...     

Ferroelectric control of magnetic anisotropy

We demonstrate unambiguous evidence of the electric field control of magnetic anisotropy in a wedge-shaped Co film of varying thickness. A copolymer ferroelectric of 70% vinylidene fluoride with 30% trifluoroethylene, P(VDF-TrFE) overlays the Co wedge, providing a large switchable electric field. As the ferroelectric polarization is switched from up to down, the magnetic anisotropy of the Co films changes by as much as 50%. At the lowest Co thickness the magnetic anisotropy switches from out-of-plane to in-plane as the ferroelectric polarization changes from up to down, enabling us to rotate the magnetization through a large angle at constant magnetic field merely by switching the ferroelectric polarization. The large mismatch in the stiffness coefficients between the polymer ferroelectric and metallic ferromagnet excludes typical magnetoelectric strain coupling; rather, the magnetic changes arise from the large electric field at the ferroelectric/ferromagnet interface.     

Magnetization reversal of antiferromagnetically coupled perpendicular anisotropy films driven by current

By inserting an ultrathin Pt layer at Co/Ru interface,we established antiferromagnetic coupling with outof-plane magnetization in Co/Ru/Co film stacks fabricated by sputtering.To achieve configuration suitable for free layer,the magnetic properties of the stacks have been investigated by changing the thickness of Co,Ru and Pt layers using an orthogonal wedges technique.It is found that magnetic properties for upper Co layer thinner than 0.5 nm are sensitive to little change in Ru thickness.Improving continuity of upper Co layer by slightly increasing the thickness can effectively increase the squareness of minor loop.The switching magnetization of synthetic antiferromagnetic(SAF) structure is achieved by DC current under an in-plane static magnetic field of ± 500 Oe.This structure is very promising for free layer in spintronic application.     

Spark plasma sintered Sm(2)Co(17)-FeCo nanocomposite permanent magnets synthesized by high energy ball milling

Nanocomposite Sm(2)Co(17)-5?wt% FeCo magnets were synthesized by high energy ball milling followed by consolidation into bulk shape by the spark plasma sintering technique. The evolution of magnetic properties was systematically investigated in milled powders as well as in spark plasma sintered samples. A high energy product of 10.2?MGOe and the other magnetic properties of M(s) = 107?emu?g(-1), M(r) = 59?emu?g(-1), M(r)/M(s) = 0.55 and H(c) = 6.4?kOe were achieved in a 5?h milled and spark plasma sintered Sm(2)Co(17)-5?wt% FeCo nanocomposite magnet. The spark plasma sintering was carried out at 700?°C for 5?min with a pressure of 70?MPa. The nanocomposite showed a higher Curie temperature of 955?°C for the Sm(2)Co(17) phase in comparison to its bulk Curie temperature for the Sm(2)Co(17) phase (920?°C). This higher Curie temperature can improve the performance of the magnet at higher temperatures.     

High temperature magnetic properties of Sm–Co and Sm–Co/polyamide-12 materials: effects of temperature, particle size, and silanization

There is an increasing demand for polymer-bonded magnets (PBM) in high temperature applications. While most research deals with high temperature properties of NdFeB–PBM, only a few studies consider Sm–Co PBM. Therefore, this study, on the thermal and magnetic properties of Sm–Co alloy powders and blends of these with polyamide-12 (PA12), was undertaken. Since the Sm–Co powders were the product of ball milling, they contained a variety of shapes and sizes. Studies on size fractions of these showed that the thermal stability and magnetic properties were improved as the particle size increased. It was suggested that higher residual strains and smaller crystallite sizes in the small particles were responsible for a decrease in the thermal stability and magnetic properties. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that the oxygen content increased with decreasing particle size (larger specific surface area) and higher oxygen content was possibly also responsible for a decrease in the magnetic properties. It was shown that, in general, the surface modification by silanization, using (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxsilane, increased the saturation magnetization and remanence of both the particles and the Sm–Co/PA12 composite. The silanization also improved the thermal stability of the particles.     

Effect of Surface Oxidation on the Magnetization Reversal of Cobalt Planar Wires

The influence of the antiferromagnetic layer of cobalt oxide on the magnetization reversal of a submicron cobalt planar wire was studied using the magneto-transport measurements. For pure Cobalt (Co) planar wires of width less than 1.2 μm, length of 30 μm, and thickness of 30 nm, the shape anisotropy dominates the magnetic behavior revealing all characteristics of a single domain structure. With oxidation, there is a thin layer of CoO on top of the Co layer and the exchange coupling between the CoO (antiferromagnet) and Co (ferromagnetic) layers may suppress the shape anisotropy induced single domain structure and the typical switching behavior of magnetization reversal. The magnetic configuration and magnetization reversal are determined by the competition of unidirectional anisotropy and exchange coupling constant.     

Magnetic properties and microstructure of radially oriented Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)z ring magnets

Radially oriented Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)_z ring magnets are prepared by powder metallurgy with appropriate magnetic field molding, sintering process and aging treatment. The results indicate that radially oriented Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)_z ring magnets have obvious anisotropy of thermal expansion and sintering shrinkage, which easily lead to the splits and deformation of the ring magnets. So, slow heating, vacuum pre-sintering in sintering process and various quenching processes at different steps during quenching are adopted. The magnets have excellent magnetic properties: B_r = 10.8 kGs, H_cj = 27.6 kOe, BH_max = 28.1 MGOe. Besides, there is a uniform magnetization field on the surface of the ring magnets. The average surface magnetization field () is 1.502 kGs. The deviation from average (α) is only 4.2%. The microstructure of the magnets consists of a mixture of homogeneous cellular and lamella structures.