High magnetic anisotropy in CeFe12-type alloys

CMI at Ames National Laboratory conducted the activity for this highlight

Innovation
Ce-Fe-based magnets for U.S. national needs.

Achievement

  • Development of the new critical-element-free Fe-rich alloy with intrinsic magnetic properties sufficient for development of high-energy permanent magnet, i.e., Ha > 4.5 T, Ms > 13.5 kG.
  • Small Sm doping (< 10 wt.%) of Zr/Mo-stabilized CeFe12 bulk alloys facilitates large magnetocrystalline anisotropy sufficient for strong permanent magnets.

Significance and Impact
Novel critical-element-free permanent magnet material that consists of 75 wt.% Fe and uses domestic earth-abundant, inexpensive, Ce. 

Hub Target Addressed
Accelerated magnet discovery and maturation.

image of two line graphs
Figure – Top  – Anisotropic magnetization measurements of Sm-free and Sm-doped CeFe12-based material showing the improvement of magnetic anisotropy, Bottom – Rietveld refinement of the Sm-doped alloy containing ~50 % of the hard magnetic matrix, i.e., 1:12-type tetragonal phase.