Coercivity mechanism of high-performance anisotropic heterostructure SmCo5 magnets

Due to its large magnetocrystalline anisotropy field and high Curie temperature, SmCo-based magnets are irreplaceable in high-temperature applications. The hot-deformed SmCo-based magnets are especially attractive for their excellent corrosion resistance, making them more suitable for harsh environments. However, it is still challenging for hot-deformed SmCo-based magnets to obtain high magnetization and high coercivity simultaneously. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the relationship between its microstructure and magnetic properties and explore its magnetic hardening mechanism to guide the further improvement of magnetic properties. In this paper, the anisotropic heterostructure SmCo5 magnet was prepared by combining large height-reduction and introducing a nano-grained Smrich phase. Strong c-axis texture, (BH)(m) of 16.1 MGOe, and H-ci of 9.6 kOe were obtained via the heterostructure with SmCo5 micron-grain and Sm-rich nano-scale precipitates. The magnetic domain observation and technical magnetization analysis demonstrate that the coercivity mechanism is dominated by nucleation. The results also show that the smooth and Sm-rich precipitated grain boundary provides weak pinning effects. It provides a reference for the development of high-performance nanocrystalline SmCo5 magnets.