Novel Soft Magnetic Co-Based Ternary Co-Er-B Bulk Metallic Glasses

In this work,a series of Co-based ternary Co-Er-B bulk metallic glasses(BMGs)with excellent soft magnetic properties and high strength were developed,and the local atomic structure of a typical Co_(71.5)Er_(3.5)B_(25) metallic glass was studied through in situ high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations.The results reveal that the BMG samples can be obtained in a composition region of Co_(68.5-71.5)Er_(3.5-4)B_(25-27.5) by a conventional copper-mold casting method.The Co-Er-B metallic glasses possess stronger atomic bond strengths and denser local atomic packing structure composed of a higher fraction of icosahedral-like clusters but fewer deformed body-centered cubic and crystal-like polyhedrons,and they exhibit slower atomic diffusion behaviors during solidification,as compared to Co-Y-B counterparts.The enhancement in structural stability and the retardation of atomic-ordered diffusion lead to the better glass-forming ability of the Co-Er-B alloys.The smaller magnetic anisotropy energy in the Co-Er-B metallic glasses results in a lower coercivity of less than 1.3 A/m.The Co-Er-B BMGs exhibit high-yield strength of 3560-3969 MPa along with distinct plasticity of around 0.50%.

Influence of iron powder content on the electromagnetic and mechanical performance of soft magnetic geopolymer composite

In the induction heating of airport pavement to remove snow and ice,soft magnetic geopolymer composite(SMGC)can be used to gather the dissipated electromagnetic energy,thus enhancing the energy utilization efficiency.The aim of this work is to analyze the influence mechanism of iron powder content on the electromagnetic and mechanical performance of SMGC,so as to provide theoretical guidance for the design of soft magnetic layer within airport pavement structure.The results show that the increase of iron powder content reduces the resistance and magnetoresistance of SMGC by decreasing the content of non-magnetic phases between iron powder.However,the reduction of iron powder spacing also provides a shorter transmission path for the inter-particle eddy currents in the SMGC specimen,which enhances the exchange coupling between iron powder,thus increasing the electromagnetic loss.Therefore,the compatibility between magnetic permeability and electromagnetic loss should be considered comprehensively in the mix design of SMGC.In addition,although iron powder can enhance the mechanical properties of SMGC by improving the density of geopolymer matrix,the excessive amount of iron powder can lead to a weak interfacial transition zone between geopolymer matrix and iron powder.According to the induction heating results,optimized SMGC can improve the energy transfer efficiency of induction heating by 24.03%.

Sodium Nitrate Passivation as a Novel Insulation Technology for Soft Magnetic Composites

Sodium nitrate passivation has been developed as a new insulation technology for the production of FeSiAl soft magnetic composites (SMCs). In this work, the evolution of coating layers grown at different pH values is investigated involving analyses on their composition and microstructure. An insulation coating obtained using an acidic NaNO_(3) solution is found to contain Fe2O_(3), SiO_(2), Al2O_(3), and AlO(OH). The Fe2O_(3) transforms into Fe3O4 with weakened oxidizability of the NO_(3)– at an elevated pH, whereas an alkaline NaNO_(3) solution leads to the production of Al2O_(3), AlO(OH), and SiO_(2). Such growth is explained from both thermodynamic and kinetic perspectives and is correlated to the soft magnetic properties of the FeSiAl SMCs. Under tuned passivation conditions, optimal performance with an effective permeability of 97.2 and a core loss of 296.4 mW∙cm−3 is achieved at 50 kHz and 100 mT.

Experimental research based on a C-band compact transit-time oscillator with a novel diode loading an embedded soft magnetic material and shielding structure

In order to reduce the external magnetic field and improve the conversion efficiency of high-power microwave generation devices with low external magnetic field,a novel diode with an embedded soft magnetic and shielding structure is proposed.The soft magnetic material is designed to enhance the local magnetic field in the diode region.Moreover,the diode applies a shielding structure which can reduce the radial electric field.From simulation research,it is found that the emission and transmission quality of the electron beam with low magnetic field is greatly improved when loading this diode.Through simulation research,it is verified that the diode can increase the conversion efficiency of the transit-time oscillator(TTO)from 30%to 36.7%.In our experimental study,under the conditions of a diode voltage of 540 kV and a current of 10.5 kA,the output microwave power is 1.51 GW when loading the novel diode and the microwave frequency is 4.27 GHz when an external guiding magnetic field of 0.3 T is applied.The corresponding conversion efficiency is improved from 20.0%to 26.6%,which is 6.6%higher than that of a device loaded with a conventional diode.Our experiments have verified that this novel diode can effectively improve the conversion efficiency of high-power microwave sources operating with low magnetic field,and contribute to the miniaturization and compactness of high-power microwave devices.

Influence of Phosphorus Content and Magnetic Annealing on Soft Magnetic Properties of Electrodeposited Amorphous FeMnP Alloy Films

In this work, we investigated the influence of phosphorus and magnetic anneal on the soft magnetic properties of electrodeposited FeMnP alloy films prepared by changing sodium hypophosphite concentrations. X-ray diffraction radiation patterns showed an amorphous structure of electrodeposited alloy films. The saturation magnetization and coercivity value decreased from 586 emu/cc to 346 emu/cc, and 52 Oe to 18 Oe, with the P content increased, respectively. The absorption resonance peak became broad as the P content increased, and the natural resonance frequency decreased from 1.8 GHz to 0.6 GHz, with the P content increasing. Magnetic annealing of samples reduced the magnetic damping, and natural resonance frequency increased by about 1.8 GHz and 3.5 GHz for the sample with lower and higher P content. The film structure with lower P content changed at 300˚C, while the structure remains unchanged for the films with higher P content. Thus, the crystallization temperature could depend on the P content in the film. FeMnP alloy films could be used in high-frequency devices.

FRACTAL STRUCTURE OF THE CORE LOSS SPECTURM OF Fe-B-Si AMORPHOUS SOFT MAGNETIC ALLOY

The core loss spectrum P(f) of Fe-B-Si amorphous soft magnetic alloy has been studied.It is found that P(f) has the fractal structure.The effect of heat treatment on the fractal dimension Df is discussed.

Preparation and characterization of carbonyl iron soft magnetic composites with magnesioferrite insulating coating layer

Spherical carbonyl iron(Fe)powders were coated with magnesioferrite(MgFe2O4)insulating coating layer and then mixed with epoxy-modified silicone resin(ESR).Soft magnetic composites(SMCs)were fabricated by compaction of the coated powders and annealing treatment.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),X-ray diffractometry(XRD)and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)revealed that the MgFe2O4 layer was coated on the surface of the iron powders.The magnetic properties of SMCs were determined using a vibrating sample magnetometer and an auto testing system for magnetic materials.The results showed that the SMCs prepared at 800 MPa and 550℃ exhibited a significant core loss of 167.5 W/kg at 100 kHz and 50 mT.

Performance improvement of Fe-6.5Si soft magnetic composites with hybrid phosphate-silica insulation coatings

Fe-6.5Si soft magnetic composites(SMCs)with hybrid phosphate-silica insulation coatings have been designed to improve their comprehensive property via chemical coating combining sol-gel method in this work.The microstructure and magnetic performance of the Fe-6.5Si SMCs with hybrid phosphate-silica insulation coatings were investigated.The hybrid phosphate-silica coatings with high heat resistance and high withstand pressure,formed on the surface of the Fe-6.5Si ferromagnetic powders,were found stable in the composites.Compared with Fe-6.5Si SMCs coated by single phosphate or single silica,Fe-6.5Si SMCs with hybrid phosphate-silica show much higher permeability and lower core loss.The work provides a new way to optimize the magnetic performance of soft magnetic composites.

Powder injection molding of Fe-Ni soft magnetic alloys

With miniaturization and complication of the shape of electronic devices in recent years,powder injection molding(PIM)seems to be a suitable process for fabricating the higher performance soft magnetic components.In this paper,high quality Fe-50Ni soft magnetic alloy was fabricated by PIM with carbonyl iron and nickel,and the effect of sintering process on its microstructure and magnetic properties were investigated.The mechanical and magnetic properties can be obviously improved by increasing the sintering temperature or using the hydrogen atmosphere instead of high vacuum,which causes by the increase of grain size and the densification.At the optimum sintering conditions,the PIM Fe-50Ni soft magnetic alloy with high properties are obtained,whose relative density,tensile strength,B_(m),H_(c),μ_(m)are 97%,465 MPa,1.52 T,16.62 A·m^(-1),42.5 mH·m^(-1),respectively.

Effect of niobium on glass-formation ability and soft magnetic properties of Gd-doping glassy alloys

The effect of niobium on glass-formation ability and soft magnetic properties were studied in Fe-Gd-B glassy alloys. The glassy alloys exhibited high glass-formation ability when the element of Nb was added. Bulk glassy rod （Fe0.87Co0.13）68.5Gd3.5Nb3B25 with a diameter up to 3 mm was produced by copper mold casting. The size of the atom might play an important role in increasing glass-formation ability. The coercive force of glassy （Fe0.87Co0.13）71.5.xGd3.sNbxB25 （x=1.2, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4） alloys decreased after the addition of niobium element and was in the range of 1.5-2.9 A/m. The permeability spectrum of （Fe0.87Co0.13）70.3Gd3.5Nb1.5B25 glassy ribbon showed that the relaxation frequency （f0） was 6.1 MHz.

Behavior of Medium-frequency Core Loss in Fe-based Nanocrystalline Soft Magnetic Alloys

The dependences of the power loss per cycle on frequency have been investigated in the ranges of 100 Hz<= f<=25000 Hz and 0.1 T< =Bm <=1.0 T for three main original magnetic states in five sorts of Fe-based nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys. The measured and calculated results showed that the total power loss per cycle clearly exhibited a nonlinear behavior in the range below 3 kHz～5 kHz depending on both the magnetic state and the value of Dm, whereas it showed a quasi-linear behavior above this range. The total loss was decomposed into hysteresis loss, classical eddy current loss and excess loss, the obvious nonlinear behavior has been confirmed to be completely determined by the dependence of the excess loss on frequency. It has been indicated that the change rate of the excess loss per cycle with respect to frequency sharp decreases with increasing frequency in the range below about 3 kHz～5 kHz, wherease the rate of change slowly varies above this range, thus leading to the quasilinear behavior of the total loss per cycle. In this paper, some linear expressions of the total loss per cycle has been given in a wider medium-frequency segment, which can be used for roughly estimating the total loss.

Reduction of Coercivity of Fe-N Soft Magnetic Film by Heat Treatment

200 nm thick Fe-N magnetic thin films were deposited on glass substrates by RF sputtering. The as-deposited films have high saturation magnetization but their coercivity is also higher than what is needed Therefore it is very important to reduce coercivity. The samples were vacuum annealed at 250℃ under 12000 A/m magnetic field. When the N content was in the range of 5-7 at. pct, the thin films consisted of α' +α' after heat treatment and had excellent soft magnetic properties of 4πMs=2.4 T, HC <80 A/m. However, the thickness of a recording head was 2μm, and Hc increased as thickness increased. In order to reduce the Hc, the sputtering power was raised from 200 W to 1000 W to reduce the grain size. 2μm Fe-N thin films were vacuum annealed under the same condition, when the N content was in the range of 5.9-8.5 at. pct, the thin films kept its excellent magnetic properties of 4πMs=2.2 T, HC <80 A/m. The properties of the films meet the need of a recording head material used in the dual-element GMR/inductive heads.

Hopkinson Effect in Soft Magnetic Materials

The μi-T curves of the alloy Fe73.5Cu1 Nb3Si13.5B9 in the amorphous state and in the nanocrys-talline state have been investigated. For comparison, μi-T curves of the other two kinds of typical soft magnetic alloys also have been measured. It was found that a sharp Hopkinson peak appeared at the Curie point for each amorphous and crystalline alloy but there was no Hopkinson peak for the nanocrystalline alloy at the Curie point of the residual amorphous phase. This phenomenon has been explained in terms of the characteristic temperature dependence of the effective magnetic anisotropy.

General Properties of Low-frequency Power Losses in Fe-based Nanocrystalline Soft Magnetic Alloys

The dependences of the power loss per cycle on frequency f and amplitude flux density Bm have been investigated for the three main original magnetic states in five sorts of Fe-based nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys in the ranges of 10 Hz<=f<=1000 Hz and 0.4 T<= Bm <=1.0 T. The total loss P is decomposed into the sum of the hysteresis loss Physt, the classical eddy current loss Pel and the excess loss Pexc. Physt has been found to be proportional to Bm^2 and f. The behavior of Pexc/f vs f being equivalent to P/f vs f clearly exhibits nonlinearity in the range not more than about 120 Hz, whereas the behavior of P/f vs f roughly shows linearity in the range far above 100 Hz and not more than 1000 Hz. In the range up to 1000 Hz, Physt is dominant in the original high permeability state and the state of low residual flux density, whereas Pexc in the state of high residual flux density is dominant in the wider range above about 100 Hz. The framework of the statistical theory of power loss has been used for representing the behavior of Pexc/f vs f. It has been found that the number n of the simultaneously active 'Magnetic Objects' linearly varies as n = n0 + Hexc/H0 as a function of the dynamic field Hexc in the range below about 120 Hz, whereas n approximately follows a law of the form n = n0 + (Hexc/H0)^m with 1 < m < 2 in the range far above 100 Hz and not more than 1000 Hz. The values of the field HO in principle related to the microstructure and the domain structure have been calculated for the three states.

Application for Optimization of New Soft Magnetic Material Motor by Taguchi Method

The application of new soft magnetic materials in permanent magnet motor can effectively reduce the loss of motor and improve the efficiency of motor. Taguchi method is a local multivariable and multi-objective optimization method widely used in various engineering problems, which can effectively improve the efficiency of engineering optimization. In this paper, based on a 25 kW, 1700 r/min three-phase permanent magnet motor, the relevant motor model is established in the finite element simulation software, and the relevant simulation analysis is carried out. Combined with Taguchi method optimization, the local optimal structure scheme is obtained. Through optimization, the motor can maintain high efficiency, reduce the cogging torque of the motor by 53.45%, reduce the torque ripple by 36.79%, and increase the torque generated by the permanent magnet per unit mass by 21.42%. Through this optimization, the overall performance of the motor has been significantly improved. The research content of this paper verifies the feasibility of the application of Taguchi method in the optimization of new soft magnetic material motor, provides a new idea for the optimization design of new soft magnetic material motor, and also provides a certain reference for the local multi-objective optimization of the electromagnetic structure of other similar motors.

Synthesis and Soft Magnetic Properties of Mg-doped Ni Nanoparticles

Mg-doped Ni nanoparticles with good soft magnetic properties were prepared with the sol-gel method and were sintered at 400, 500, 600, and 900℃ in argon atmosphere, respectively. The structure and magnetic properties of the samples were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, TEM, and VSM magnetometers. X-Ray powder diffraction results show that Ni-Mg solid solution was formed with the single phase of face-centered cubic（fcc） structure. The particle size became larger with the increase of temperature. When the sintering temperature was 400 °C, the particle size was 6.3 nm, whereas it was 46.2 nm at 900 °C. Both the saturation magnetization（Ms） and the coercivity were enhanced with the increase of the particle size. The Ms values of the samples ranged from 18.965 to 46.766 emu/g and the coercivity ranged from 1051.3568 to 9145.0848 A/m.

Microwave properties and surface topography of soft magnetic films with high resistivity

A single layer of CoFeB and a multilayer of CoFeB MgO films are prepared by means of DC/RF magnetron sputter deposition. The excellent microwave properties and high electrical resistivity are simultaneously achieved in the discontinuous multilayer structure of [Co44Fe44B12（0.7nm）/MgO（0.4nm）]40 film. This film has a high permeability （μ′） （larger than 100 below 2.1 GHz）, a high magnetic loss （μ″） （larger than 100 in a range from 1.5 to 3.3GHz）, a resistivity of 3.3 × 10^3μΩ. cm, a saturation magnetization of 1.2 T, and an in-plane uniaxial anisotropy field of 5.5 kA/m. The microstructure and the surface topography of the film are also analysed. The relatively large surface roughness for the discontinuous film is responsible for the wide frequency band of magnetic loss. The magnetic loss and the high resistivity indicate that the discontinuous CoFeB MgO multilayer film has potential applications in microwave absorbers and electromagnetic interference （EMI） shielding materials in a GHz frequency range.

Studies on high-moment soft magnetic FeCo/Co thin films

The dependences of soft magnetic properties and microstructures of the sputtered FeCo （=Fe65Co35） films on Co underlayer thickness tCo, FeCo thickness tFeCo, substrate temperature Ts and taxget-substrate spacing dT-s are studied. FeCo single layer generally shows a high coercivity with no obvious magnetic anisotropy. Excellent soft magnetic properties with saturation magnetization μ0Ms of 2.35 T and hard axis coercivity Hch of 0.25 kA/m in FeCo films can be achieved by introducing a Co underlayer. It is shown that sandwiching a Co underlayer causes a change in orientation and reduction in grain size from 70 nm to about 10 nm in the FeCo layer. The magnetic softness can be explained by the Hoffmann＇s ripple theory due to the effect of grain size. The magnetic anisotropy can be controlled by changing dT-S, and a maximum of 14.3 kA/m for anisotropic field Hk is obtained with dT-S=18.0 cm.

Interaction forces between soft magnetic particles in uniform and non-uniform magnetic fields

The influence of the magnetization of a soft magnetic sphere on the surrounding magnetic field is measured and characterized.The interaction force between two soft magnetic particles is directly measured using an ultra precision load sensor in uniform and non-uniform magnetic fields. The interaction force largely follows an inverse fourth power law as a function of separation distance between particle centers. At small distances,the effect of magnetization of one particle on the magnetization of its adjacent particle causes the attractive（repulsive） force to be larger（smaller） than that predicted by the inverse fourth power law.The theoretical prediction based on a modified dipole model,that takes into account the coupling effect of the magnetization among soft magnetic particles,gives excellent agreement with the measured force in a uniform magnetic field.The interaction force under a non-uniform applied magnetic field can be reasonably predicted using the dipole-dipole interaction model when the local magnetic field is used to determine the magnetization.

High permeability and bimodal resonance structure of flaky soft magnetic composite materials

We establish a theoretical bimodal model for the complex permeability of flaky soft magnetic composite materials to explain the variability of their initial permeability.The new model is motivated by finding the two natural resonance peaks to be inconsistent with the combination of the domain wall resonance and the natural resonance.In the derivation of the model,two relationships are explored:the first one is the relationship between the number of magnetic domains and the permeability,and the second one is the relationship between the natural resonance and the domain wall resonance.This reveals that the ball milling causes the number of magnetic domains to increase and the maximum initial permeability to exist after 10 h of ball milling.An experiment is conducted to demonstrate the reliability of the proposed model.The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations.This new model is of great significance for studying the mechanism and applications of the resonance loss for soft magnetic composite materials in high frequency fields.