Magnetic and crystallographic properties of SmCo base ternary alloys

To help elucidate some of the properties associated with the permanent magnetism of Sm1Co5, an experimental investigatlon was made of the magnetic and crystallographic characteristics of the tertiary alloys Sm.9z.1Co5where Z represents various selected elements other than rare earths or magnetic transition elements, that partially replace Sm in Sm1Co5. The selected elements were Hf, Zr, Mg, Sb, Sn, Pb, Ca, Bi, Se, and Te. The Hf substituted alloy had the hexagonal Ca1Cu5structure. All the remaining alloys were found to be two phase materials involving the 1-5 hexagonal and 2-17 rhombohedral structures. Magnetic measurements on these alloys in the form of loosely packed, free-to-orient 38μm powder showed that the coercive forces and remanent magnetization of each ternary alloy powder, with the exception of Sm.9Hf.1Co5and Sm.9Hf.1Co5, were considerably less than that of Sm1Co5powder. Based upon these results, the structural and magnetic properties of a series of Sm1-xHfxCo5, Sm1-xMgxCo5, Sm.9Hf.1Co5-xFex, Sm2(1-x)Hf2xCo17and Sm2(1-x)Mg2xCo17alloys were also investigated.