Evolution of magnetic properties and microstructure of Hf2Co11B alloys

Amorphous Hf2Co11B alloys produced by melt-spinning have been crystallized by annealing at 500-800 degrees C, and the products have been investigated using magnetization measurements, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The results reveal the evolution of the phase fractions, microstructure, and magnetic properties with both annealing temperature and time. Crystallization of the phase denoted HfCo7, which is associated with the development of coercivity, occurs slowly at 500 degrees C. Annealing at intermediate temperatures produces mixed phase samples containing some of the HfCo7 phase with the highest values of remanent magnetization and coercivity. The equilibrium structure at 800 degrees C contains HfCo3B2, Hf6Co23, and Co, and displays soft ferromagnetism. Maximum values for the remanent magnetization, intrinsic coercivity, and magnetic energy product among the samples are approximately 5.2 kG, 2.0 kOe, and 3.1 MGOe, respectively, which indicates that the significantly higher values observed in crystalline, melt-spun Hf2Co11B ribbons are a consequence of the non-equilibrium solidification during the melt-spinning process. Application of high magnetic fields during annealing is observed to strongly affect the microstructural evolution, which may provide access to higher performance materials in Zr/Hf-Co hard ferromagnets. The crystal structure of HfCo7 and the related Zr analogues is unknown, and without knowledge of atomic positions powder diffraction cannot distinguish among proposed unit cells and symmetries found in the literature. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.