Coercivity mechanism of La-Nd-Fe-B films with Y spacer layer

The effect of the Y spacer layer on the phase composition,coercivity,and magnetization reversal processes of La-Nd-Fe-B films has been investigated.The addition of a 10 nm Y spacer layer increases the coercivity of the film to 1.36 T at 300 K and remains 0.938 T at 380 K.As the thickness of the Y spacer layer increases,Y participates in the formation of the main phase in the film,and further regulates the formation of La-B phases.The results of the first-order reversal curve(FORC)and micromagnetic fitting show that the coercivity of all the films is dominated by nucleation mechanism.The c-axis preferred orientation,good magnetic microstructure parameters and the largest dipole interaction enhance the coercivity.Therefore,the introduction of the Y spacer layer can be an effective way to improve the coercivity of La-Nd-Fe-B film over a wide temperature range of 150 K-380 K.

Effect of CeO_(2)doping on the coercivity of 2:17 type SmCo magnets

The effects of CeO_(2)doping on the magnetic properties and microstructure of 2:17 type SmCo magnets are studied.With the increase of CeO_(2)from 0 wt.%to 3 wt.%,the coercivity of the magnets increases from 22.22 kOe to over 29.37 kOe,which is an increase of more than 30%.When the doping content is lower than 1 wt.%,the remanence and magnetic energy product of the magnets remain almost constant.Both decrease sharply as the doping concentration further increases.After CeO_(2)doping,the oxide content in the magnet increases significantly and the Ce element is uniformly distributed in the magnet.Observing the magnetic domains reveals that doping with CeO_(2)can refine the magnetic domains and make the magnetic domain wall more stable,resulting in a significant increase in the coercivity of the magnets.

Coercivity enhancement of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets by grain boundary diffusion with Pr_(80-x)Al_(x)Cu_(20)alloys

A grain boundary diffusion(GBD)process with Pr_(80-x)Al_(x)Cu_(20)(x=0,10,15,20)low melting point alloys was applied to commercial 42M sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets.The best coercivity enhancement of a diffused magnet was for the Pr_(65)Al_(15)Cu_(20)GBD magnet,from 16.38 kOe to 22.38 kOe.Microstructural investigations indicated that increase in the Al content in the diffusion source can form a continuous grain boundary(GB)phase,optimizing the microstructure to enhance the coercivity.The coercivity enhancement is mainly due to the formation of a continuous GB phase to separate the main phase grains.Exchange decoupling between the adjacent main phase grains is enhanced after the GBD process.Meanwhile,the introduction of Al can effectively promote the infiltration of Pr into the magnet,which increases the diffusion rate of rare-earth elements within a certain range.This work provides a feasible method to enhance coercivity and reduce the use of rare-earth resources by partial replacement of rare-earth elements with non-rare-earth elements in the diffusion source.

Incentivization and the moral problem of involuntary consent in medical research

The legal and moral permissibility of clinical research entails that researchers must secure the voluntary,informed consent of prospective research participants before enrolling them in studies.In seeking the consent of potential participants,researchers are also allowed to incentivise the recruitment process because many studies would fail to meet enrollment goals without a financial incentive for participation.Some philosophers and bioethicists contend that the use of incentives to secure consent from research subjects is problematic because it constitutes undue inducement and a coercive offer.Some proponents of this view are Ruth Macklin(1981,1989)and Joan McGregor(2005).Macklin claims that it is ethically inappropriate to pay research subjects.The payment is likely to coerce the research subject,thereby violating the ethical requirement on the voluntariness of research participation.Also,such offers can prompt subjects to lie,deceive or conceal information that,if known,would disqualify them as participants.For McGregor,incentives could be undue and coercive because they make offerees better off relative to their baseline as well as constrain them to accept the offer of incentives as the only eligible choice or option.I argue that coercive offers are distinct from undue inducement.Coercive offers are essentially morally objectionable because by making people accept an offer through threats for the sake of some interests or ends,the offeror vitiates the offeree’s capacity to make informed,voluntary,and rational decisions and choices.I further claim that the quantity of an incentive does not render an inducement undue.I contend that the only condition under which incentives are regarded as an undue inducement and as such vitiates an agent’s voluntary consent is if they are offered through deceptive or manipulative means.

Perspective and Prospects for Rare Earth Permanent Magnets

Rare earth permanent magnets constitute a mature technology,but the shock of the 2011 rare earth crisis led to the re-evaluation of many ideas from the 1980s and 1990s about possible new hard magnets containing little or no rare earth(or heavy rare earth).Nd-Fe-B magnets have been painstakingly and skillfully optimized for a wide range of applications in which high performance is required at reasonable cost.Sm-Co is the material of choice when high-temperature stability is required,and Sm-Fe-N magnets are making their way into some niche applications.The scope for improvement in these basic materials by substitution has been rather thoroughly explored,and the effects of processing techniques on the microstructure and hysteresis are largely understood.A big idea from a generation ago-which held real potential to raise the record energy product significantly-was the oriented exchange-spring hard/soft nanocomposite magnet;however,it has proved very difficult to realize.Nevertheless,the field has evolved,and innovation has flourished in other areas.For example,electrical personal transport has progressed from millions of electric bicycles to the point where cars and trucks with electrical drives are becoming mainstream,and looks ready to bring the dominance of the internal combustion engine to an end.As the limitations of particular permanent magnets become clearer,ingenuity and imagination are being used to design around them,and to exploit the available mix of rare earth resources most efficiently.Huge new markets in robotics beckon,and the opportunities offered by additive manufacturing are just beginning to be explored.New methods of increasing magnet stability at elevated temperature are being developed,and integrated multifunctionality of hard magnets with other useful properties is now envisaged.These themes are elaborated here,with various examples.

Effect of Al and Al/Mo addition on microstructure and magnetic properties of sintered Nd_(22)Fe_(71)B_7 magnets

The alloying elements Al and Al/Mo were added into the intergranular regions of sintered NdFeB magnets and their effects on microstructure and magnetic properties were investigated. Results show that a small amount of Al and Al/Mo additives can largely enhance the coercivity with a little loss of the remanence of NdFeB magnets. Apart from the improvement of Nd rich phase wetting ability arising from the individual pure Al addition, the improvement of coercivity can be attributed to the occurrence of a net shaped Nd(FeAl) 2 phase in the intergranular region of the Al doped and Al/Mo doped magnets and the segregation of Mo on the surface of the main phase grains,which reduces the magnetic coupling of the Nd 2Fe 14 B grains and impedes effectively the propagation of the domain walls. Compared with the single element alloying method, the combined alloying of different elements to the intergranular region is more efficient to modify the properties of NdFeB magnets. [

Investigation on mechanism of magnetization reversal for nanocrystalline Pr-Fe-B permanent magnets by micromagnetic finite element methods

Magnetization configurations were calculated under various magnetic fields for nanocrystalline Pr-Fe-B permanent magnets by micromagnetic finite element method.According to the configurations during demagnetization process, the mechanism of magnetization reversal was analyzed.For the Pr2Fe14B with 10 nm grains or its composite with 10vol.% α-Fe, the coercivity was determined by nucleation of reversed domain that took place at grain boundaries.However, for Pr2Fe14B with 30 nm grains, coercivity was controlled by pinning of the nucle-ated domain.For Pr2Fe14B/α-Fe with 30vol.% α-Fe, the demagnetization behavior was characterized by continuous reversal of α-Fe moment.

Magnetron sputtering deposition of [FePt/Ag]_n multilayers for perpendicular recording

[FePt/Ag]n multilayers were deposited on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering and ex situ annealed at 550℃ for 30 min. The effects of inserted Ag layer thickness and the number of bilayer repetitions （n） on the structure and magnetic properties of the multilayers were investigated. It was found that the difference between in-plane and out-of-plane coercivities varied with an increase of inserted Ag layer thickness in the [FePt 2 nm/Ag x nm]10 multilayers. The ratio of out-of-plane coercivity to in-plane coercivity reached the maximum value with the Ag layer thickness of 5 nm, indicating that the Ag layer thickness plays an important role in obtaining perpendicular orientation. For the [FePt 2 nm/Ag 5 um]n multilayers, perpendicular orientation is also influenced by n. The maximum value of the ratio of out-of-plane coercivity to in-plane coercivity appeared when n was given as 8. It was found that the [FePt 2 nm/Ag 5 nm]8 had a high perpendicular coercivity of 520 kA/m and a low in-plane one of 88 kA/m, which shows a strong perpendicular anisotropy.

Abnormal variation of magnetic properties with Ce content in(PrNdCe)_2Fe_(14)B sintered magnets prepared by dual alloy method

Resource-saving（PrNdCe）_2Fe_（14）B sintered magnets with nominal composition（PrNd）_（15-x）Ce_xFe_（77）B_8（x=0–10）were prepared using a dual alloy method by mixing（PrNd）_5Ce_（10）Fe_（77）B_8 with（PrNd）_（15）Fe_（77）B_8 powders. For Ce atomic percent of 1% and 2%, coercivity decreases dramatically. With further increase of Ce atomic percent, the coercivity increases, peaks at 6.38 kOe in（PrNd）_（11）Ce_4Fe_（77）B_8, and then declines gradually. The abnormal dependence of coercivity is likely related to the inhomogeneity of rare earth chemical composition in the intergranular phase, where Pr Nd concentration is strongly dependent on the additive amount of（PrNd）_5Ce_（10）Fe_（77）B_8 powders. In addition, for Ce atomic percent of 8%,7%, and 6% the coercivity is higher than that of magnets prepared by the conventional method, which shows the advantage of the dual alloy method in preparing high abundant rare earth magnets.

Excellent magnetic softness in TbFe/FeCoV multilayers

[Tb4oFe6o（x nm）/Fe49Co49V2（y nm）]N multilayers were prepared by multitarget magnetron sputtering using a rotary turn-table technique in a stop-and-go mode. The mulfilayers were investigated using X-ray diffraction, field emission scan electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. The result shows that the coercive field drops abruptly with increasing number of bilayers, and it remains generally stable when the number of bilayers is 10 or higher. An excellent magnetic softness with a coercivity of 1.0 mT is obtained for x = 5 and y = 5 after annealing at 250℃. A crystalline state is observed in FeCoV layers before and after annealing by X-ray diffraction.

AN EXISTENCE THEOREM OF SOLUTIONS FOR SEMILINEAR ELLIPTIC EQUATIONS ON R^N

An existent theorem is obtained for nonzero W-1,W-2(R-N) solutions of the following equations on R-N -Delta u + b(x)u = f(x,u), x is an element of R-N, where b is periodic for some variables and coercive for the others, f is superlinear.

Grain boundary restructuring and La/Ce/Y application in Nd–Fe–B magnets

Since the 1980 s, Nd–Fe–B with largest energy product(BH)max approaching the theoretical limit has become the landmark of permanent magnetic material.The application spectrum for Nd–Fe–B continues to expand over time both in the industrial and commercial sectors, which leads to growing research interests for solving the long-standing drawbacks of Nd–Fe–B, i.e., poor corrosion resistance, low coercivity, high Dy/Tb and low La/Ce/Y consumption.Concerning the above obstacles, we aim to present the novel grain boundary restructuring(GBR) approach, from GB design, processing, to structure evolution and property evaluation with a focus on the corrosion and coercivity mechanism of the restructured 2:14:1-typed magnets.Starting with an introduction to the fundamental of GBR, two representative examples,high-electrode-potential(Pr, Nd)32.5Fe62.0Cu5.5 and low-melting-point Dy71.5Fe28.5, are given with detailed descriptions of the advantages of GBR to enhance the intrinsic anti-corrosion stability and to strengthen the coercivity at low Dy consumption.Microstructure–property correlations are established to understand the critical importance of regulating the restructured GB phase to maximize the all-round performance of the 2:14:1-typed permanent magnets.Aiming at sustainable and balanced development of rare earth(RE) industry, the proceeding section proposes new prototypes of La–Ce and Y–Ce co-substitutions with dual benefits of stabilizing the 2:14:1 tetragonal phase and strengthening the intrinsic hard magnetism.The findings of additional REFe2 intergranular phase delight that the GBR approach also opens up a new horizon of research and application to develop high-performance La/Ce/Y-rich permanent magnets with deliberately tailored GB phase.

High Energy and High Coercivity Sintered NdFeB Magnets by Low Oxygen Process

Using ball milling and single direction pressing, we can produce high performance NdFeB sintered magnets. The oxygen content of sintered magnets can be controlled under 1500xl0^-6 and the magnetic performance can be improved by using low oxygen processing. The high preformance NdFeB sintered magnets with Br=(1.4 ± 0.2)T, iHc>796 kA/m and (BH)max=(390± 16) kJ/m^3, have been batch produced.

Coercivity mechanisms in nanostructured permanent magnets

Coercivity mechanism in permanent magnets has been debated for many years.In this paper, various models of the coercivity mechanism are classified and re-examined by the comparison and contrast.Coherent rotation and curling models can reveal the underlying reversal mechanism clearly based on isolated grains with elliptic shapes.By contrast, the numerical methods consider inter-grain interactions while simulating the evolution of the spins and hysteresis loops with complicated shapes.However, an exact simulation of magnetic reversal in permanent nanomagnets requires many meshes to mimic the thin domain wall well.Nucleation and pinning are the two main coercivity mechanisms in permanent magnets.The former signifies the beginning of the magnetic reversal, whilst the latter completes it.Recently, it is proposed that the large difference between the intrinsic magnetic properties of the nucleation centers and those of the main phase can result in a large pinning field(self-pinning), which has the attributes of both traditional nucleation and pinning.Such a pinning explains the experimental data of permanent magnets very well, including the enhancement of the coercivity by the grain boundary pinning.

High Coercive NdFeB Thin Film Obtained by Diffusion Annealing

The magnetic properties and microstructure of diffusion annealed [Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta]thin films have been investigated. The films were deposited on Si substrate with various thickness ratio of Nd/NdFeB layer (R=0～3.3), then diffused and crystallized by annealing at 650℃ for 10 min. The film without Nd layer showed soft magnetic behavior and high content of a-Fe phase. The films with R > =1 showed good hard magnetic properties with the high coercivity of about 20 kOe.

EXISTENCE OF SOLUTIONS FOR NONLINEAR ELLIPTIC BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS

Hilbert space method is applied to a class of semilinear second_order elliptic boundary value problems and the existence of solutions is obtained with some restrictions.

High performance RE–Fe–B sintered magnets with high-content misch metal by double main phase process

Double main phase process is applied to fabricate [(Pr, Nd)1 – xMMx]13.8FebalM1.5B5.9 (x = 0.5 and 0.7;M = Cu, Al, Co, and Nb) sintered magnets with high misch metal (MM) content. In comparison to the magnets by single main phase process, the enhanced magnetic properties have been achieved. For magnets of x = 0.7, Hcj increases to 371.9 kA/m by 60.5%, and (BH)max is significantly enhanced to 253.3 kJ/m3 by 56.9%, compared with those of the single main phase magnets of the same nominal composition. In combination with minor loops and magnetic recoil curves, the property improvement of magnets with double main phase method is well explained. As a result, it is demonstrated that double main phase technology is an effective approach to improve the permanent magnetic properties of MM based sintered magnets.

Dependence of Nanocrystalline Phase Formation and Magnetic Properties in Fe_(25)Ni_(75) on Ball Milling Time

Nanocrystalline Fe 25 Ni 75 powders were prepared by the mechanical alloying process . They were investigated by X ray diffraction and magnetic measurements .The ball milling time dependence of grain size, internal strain and magnetic properties has been discussed. The results show that the formation of Fe 25 Ni 75 alloy phase is almost completed after milling for 30 hours. The reduction of grain size accompanied by the growth of internal strain was observed after extended milling. An average grain size about 10-20 nm of alloyed powders has been determined by Sherrer formula estimation. The saturation magnetisation Ms has a slight increase when the average grain size continues to decrease by intensive milling. This fine size of mechanically alloyed powders (10-20 nm) results in a single domain magnetic structure and the formation of superparamagnetic phase.