Rare earth permanent magnets and their preparation
AssigneeShin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
InventorsHiroaki Nagata, Tadao Nomura, Takehisa Minowa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sintered magnet body (RaT1bMcBd) coated with a powder mixture of an intermetallic compound (R1iM1j, R1xT2yM1z, R1iM1jHk), alloy (M1dM2e) or metal (M1) powder and a rare earth (R2) oxide is diffusion treated. The R2 oxide is partially reduced during the diffusion treatment, so a significant amount of R2 can be introduced near interfaces of primary phase grains within the magnet through the passages in the form of grain boundaries. The coercive force is increased while minimizing a decline of remanence.
Claims6
A method for preparing a rare earth permanent magnet, comprising the steps of:
- disposing a powder mixture on a surface of a sintered magnet body having the composition RaT1bMcBd wherein R is at least one element selected from rare earth elements inclusive of Y and Sc, T1 is one or both of Fe and Co, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, C, P, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, In, Sn, Sb, Hf, Ta, W, Pb, and Bi, B is boron, “a,” “b,” “c” and “d” indicative of atomic percent are in the range:
- 12≤a≤20, 0≤c≤10, 4.0≤d≤7.0, the balance of b, and a+b+c+d=100, the powder mixture comprising an alloy powder having the composition R1xT2yM1z wherein R1 is at least one element selected from rare earth elements inclusive of Y and Sc, T2 is one or both of Fe and Co, M1 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, C, P, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, In, Sn, Sb, Hf, Ta, W, Pb, and Bi, x, y and z indicative of atomic percent are in the range:
- 5≤x≤85, 20≤z≤95, x+z<100, the balance of y, y>0, and x+y+z=100, containing at least 70% by volume of an intermetallic compound phase, and having an average particle size of up to 500 μm, and 30 to 90% by weight of an R2 oxide wherein R2 is at least one element selected from rare earth elements inclusive of Y and Sc, having an average particle size of up to 100 μm, and
- heat treating the sintered magnet body having the powder mixture disposed on its surface at a temperature lower than or equal to the sintering temperature of the sintered magnet body in vacuum or in an inert gas, for causing partial reduction of the rare earth oxide in admixture with the intermetallic compound, whereby the elements R1, R2, M1 and T2 in the powder mixture to diffuse to grain boundaries in the interior of the sintered magnet body and/or near grain boundaries within the sintered magnet body primary phase grains.
A rare earth permanent magnet, which is prepared by disposing a powder mixture on a surface of a sintered magnet body having the composition RaT1bMcBd wherein R is at least one element selected from rare earth elements inclusive of Y and Sc, T1 is one or both of Fe and Co, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, C, P, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, In, Sn, Sb, Hf, Ta, W, Pb, and Bi, B is boron, “a,” “b,” “c” and “d” indicative of atomic percent are in the range:
- 12≤a≤20, 0≤c≤10, 4.0≤d≤7.0, the balance of b, and a+b+c+d=100, the powder mixture comprising an alloy powder having the composition R1xT2yM1z wherein R1 is at least one element selected from rare earth elements inclusive of Y and Sc, T2 is one or both of Fe and Co, M1 is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, C, P, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, In, Sn, Sb, Hf, Ta, W, Pb, and Bi, x, y and z indicative of atomic percent are in the range:
- 5≤x≤85, 20≤z≤95, x+z<100, the balance of y, y>0, and x+y+z=100, containing at least 70% by volume of an intermetallic compound phase, and having an average particle size of up to 500 μm, and 30 to 90% by weight of an R2 oxide wherein R2 is at least one element selected from rare earth elements inclusive of Y and Sc, having an average particle size of up to 100 μm, and heat treating the sintered magnet body having the powder mixture disposed on its surface at a temperature lower than or equal to the sintering temperature of the sintered magnet body in vacuum or in an inert gas, wherein
- the elements R1, R2, M1 and T2 in the powder mixture are diffused to grain boundaries in the interior of the sintered magnet body and/or near grain boundaries within the sintered magnet body primary phase grains so that the coercive force of the rare earth permanent magnet is increased over the original sintered magnet body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.