ThMn12-type phases for magnets with low rare-earth content: Crystal-field analysis of the full magnetization process
Abstract
Rare-earth (R)-iron alloys are a backbone of permanent magnets. Recent increase in price of rare earths has pushed the industry to seek ways to reduce the R-content in the hard magnetic materials.
For this reason strong magnets with the ThMn12 type of structure came into focus. Functional properties of R(Fe, T)(12) (T-element stabilizes the structure) compounds or their interstitially modified derivatives, R(Fe, T)(12)-X (X is an atom of hydrogen or nitrogen) are determined by the crystal-electric-field (CEF) and exchange interaction (EI) parameters.
We have calculated the parameters using high-field magnetization data. We choose the ferrimagnetic Tm-containing compounds, which are most sensitive to magnetic field and demonstrate that TmFe11Ti-H reaches the ferromagnetic state in the magnetic field of 52 T.
Knowledge of exact CEF and EI parameters and their variation in the compounds modified by the interstitial atoms is a cornerstone of the quest for hard magnetic materials with low rare-earth content.