EFFECT OF CRYSTAL ALIGNMENT ON THE REMANENCE OF SINTERED NDFEB MAGNETS

Nd15.4Fe77.8B6.8 magnets of various degrees of crystal alignment have been prepared by the conventional powder metallurgy technique. The alignment of these magnets have been determined by x-ray diffraction and fitting the standard deviation of a Gaussian distribution for the relative intensity versus the angle between the normals of (hkl) and the tetragonal c axis. The standard deviation is a good indicator for crystal alignment. An aligning field of 8 kOe is found to be essential to obtain a well-aligned NdFeB magnet. The remanence of sintered magnets is directly affected by the crystal alignment. Furthermore, the effect of crystal alignment on the remanence follows the theoretical prediction of the Stoner-Wohlfarth model. Below the spin reorientation temperature, the effect of crystal alignment on the shape of hysteresis loop becomes more significant. The remanences extrapolated from first and second quadrant of the hysteresis loops have been found to be consistent with the prediction of Stoner-Wohlfarth model.