Effect of grain growth inhibitors on the hysteresis properties of Nd/sub 10/Fe/sub 82/C/sub 6/B/sub 2/ melt-spun alloys

An effort has been made to improve the coercivity of nanocomposite Nd/sub 10/Fe/sub 82/C/sub 6/B/sub 2/ alloys, using small amounts (up to 1 at%) of Cr, Ti, Nb, Zr, and Ga. X-ray studies revealed that the amount of /spl alpha/-Fe phase in both as-spun and annealed ribbons was significantly reduced for Nb and Zr substitutions, but increased for all the other substitutions. From the magnetic properties point of view, Zr (1 at%) was proven to be the most advantageous of all, since it increased the coercivity of annealed ribbons from 3.2 to 4.8 kOe and the maximum energy product from 5.8 to 13 MGOe. This improvement is associated with the much finer and more uniform microstructure as was revealed by transmission electron microscopy.