Influence of a small addition of Nd on the magnetic properties of amorphous Fe-B alloys

The influence of the addition of a few atomic percent of Nd on the Curie temperature, crystallization temperature, and magnetic properties of amorphous iron-boron alloys was investigated. With increasing Nd content, the crystallization temperature increases linearly, but the Curie temperature and the magnetic moment of the Fe atom decrease. The change of the crystallization temperature and the magnetic properties of amorphous ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{81}$ ${\mathrm{B}}_{19\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ (0≤x≤6) alloys can be explained by the atomic size effect and the chemical properties of neodymium. On annealing, the coercivity ${\mathit{H}}_{\mathit{c}}$ and the magnetic energy (BH${)}_{\max }$ of the samples (except x=0) increase, depending strongly on the Nd concentration. A hard magnet with ${\mathit{H}}_{\mathit{c}}$=2.3 kOe and (BH${)}_{\max }$=8 MG Oe was obtained.