Effects of Grain Boundary Phase on Coercivity of Dysprosium-Free Rare Earth Magnet

Abstract

As a part of the challenge of reducing the use of scarce rare-earth elements in magnets, a Dy-free Nd-Fe-B magnet with the remanence and coercivity of 1370 mT and 1830 kA/m, respectively, was investigated. The grain boundary was composed of mainly two phases, R₆T₁₃M and R-rich phases. The R₆T₁₃M phase formed at around 750 to 1000 K, and in that temperature range, coercivity improved and remanence decreased. By increasing the amount of grain boundary phases to 17.3 at% R addition, coercivity higher than 1990 kA/m (25 kOe) was realized.