Effects of copper and zirconium contents on microstructure and magnetic properties of Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)_z magnets with high iron content

The evolution of the microstructure,microchemistry and magnetic properties of the Sm(Co_(bal)Fe_(0.28)-Cu_yZr_x)_(7.6) magnets with different Zr and Cu contents was investigated.It is found that the coercivity of the Sm(Co,Fe,Cu,Zr)_z magnets is sensitive to Zr content.The deficiency of Zr content causes heterogeneity of Cu and Fe distributions,while an excessive Zr content leads to the formation of a SmCoZr impurity phase.The cellular structure and distribution of Cu concentration.gradient between the cell boundary phase and cell pha se are destroyed by inappropriate Zr content,which results in a reduction of coercivity.The Cu concentration difference between the cell boundary phase and cell phase increases with increasing Cu content.The coercivity of the Sm(Co_(bal)Fe_(0.28)Cu_yZr_(0.02))_(7.6) magnets increases from 10.4 to 25.4 kOe for y=0.05 and y=0.07.However,the excess of Cu element destroys the cell boundary phase and enlarges the cell size,resulting in a significant decrease of squareness and energy density.The optimum performance(remanence of 11.4 kG,coercivity of 2 5.4 kOe,maximum magnetic ene rgy product of 30.4 MGOe) was obtained for the Sm(Co_(0.63)Fe_(0.28)Cu_(0.07)Zr_(0.02))_(7.6) magnet.