Structure and magnetic properties of (Sm0.9Zr0.1)Fe11Ti alloys with ThMn12-type structure

Abstract Rapidly increasing demand for high-energy permanent magnets and volatility of the rear-earth market encourage a search of hard magnetic materials that can compete with those based on the Nd 2 Fe 14 B phase. Sm-Fe compounds with the ThMn 12 -type crystal structure are considered as promising candidates for it. However, their synthesis and achievement of theoretically predicted magnetic properties are still challenging tasks that have not been solved yet. This paper addresses this problem. Its aim was to synthesize and to study magnetic properties of the (Sm 0.9 Zr 0.1 )Fe 11 Ti compound with ThMn 12 -type structure. Initially amorphous alloy was obtained by melt spinning and its subsequent heat treatments were performed. Structural and phase transformations of the (Sm 0.9 Zr 0.1 )Fe 11 Ti alloy with annealing temperatures were studied along with magnetic properties. For the optimally annealed alloy features of magnetization reversal were discussed and temperature dependences of coercivity and maximum energy product were obtained.