Wide induction range analysis of DC magnetic properties and magnetization processes of Fe-based soft magnetic composites

The paper presents systematic analyses of a wide maximum induction range (0.001 T-1.4 T) DC magnetic properties of iron-based soft magnetic composite (SMC) materials by applying different methods to understand the specific features of magnetization reversal of this increasingly popular class of soft magnetic materials, including a hitherto less explored area of the Rayleigh region of very low magnetic fields, which has growing application potential in new, low-energy consuming electronic devices or ultra-low magnetic field shielding. The total permeability, coercive field and remanent magnetic induction were analysed in connection with the reciprocity factor and inner demagnetization factor and their relations to interparticle magnetic interaction, domain wall movability and predominance of individual magnetization processes. Their dependence on the magnetic induction and the properties of each sample were revealed and confirmed also by energy loss separation. The Rayleigh region analytical expressions for the coercive field, remanent magnetic induction, the ratio of irreversible to reversible magnetization changes and their percentages within the magnetizing cycle were used for SMCs for the first time.