Study of structural and magnetic properties of melt spun Nd2Fe13.6Zr0.4B ingot and ribbon

Abstract

Nd2Fe[Formula: see text]Zr[Formula: see text]B hard magnetic material were prepared using arc-melting technique on a water-cooled copper hearth kept under argon gas atmosphere. The prepared samples, Nd2Fe[Formula: see text]Zr[Formula: see text]B ingot and ribbon are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for crystal structure determination and morphological studies, respectively. The magnetic properties of the samples have been explored using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The lattice constants slightly increased due to the difference in the ionic radii of Fe and that of Zr. The bulk density decreased due to smaller molar weight and low density of Zr as compared to that of Fe. Ingot sample shows almost single crystalline phase with larger crystallite sizes whereas ribbon sample shows a mixture of amorphous and crystalline phases with smaller crystallite sizes. The crystallinity of the material was highly affected with high thermal treatments. Magnetic measurements show noticeable variation in magnetic behavior with the change in crystallite size. The sample prepared in ingot type shows soft while ribbon shows hard magnetic behavior.