Characterisation of Sm–Co–Sn alloys

Cast SmCo5−xSnx (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.06 and 0.12) alloys were prepared by arc melting with subsequent thermal homogenisation. Microstructural and x-ray diffraction studies revealed that the alloys were constituted of three phases i.e. SmCo5, Sm2Co7 and Sm2Co17. The addition of Sn caused grain refinement of the alloys. It was found that the Sn addition promoted nucleation of Sm2Co17, segregation of solute atoms and increase in unit cell volume; consequently, significant augmentation in remanence to maximum magnetization ratios was achieved.