Article ID: M2010189
Microstructure of high coercive pulsed laser deposition (PLD) made Nd-Fe-B thick-film magnet improved by “Tb-coating-diffusion” treatment has been investigated with an analytical transmission electron microscope (ATEM). It was found that the PLD-made film consists mainly of fine Nd2Fe14B grains about 200 nm in diameter and a large amount of Nd intergranular phases. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis showed that each Nd2Fe14B grain is covered with a thin (Nd,Tb)2Fe14B layer about 20–30 nm in thickness and thin Nd-Tb grain-boundary-layer about 5–10 nm in width. The present results indicate that such a two-layered-wrapping structure enhances significantly the coercivity of the PLD-made thick-film magnet.