Assessment of off-stoichiometric Zr33-xFe52+xSi15 C14 Laves phase compounds as permanent magnet materials

Abstract

Recently, Fe-based rare-earth-free compounds with non-cubic crystal structures were proposed as a base for permanent magnets which would not rely on critical elements. In this work, two series of alloys, Zr27Fe73-wSiw (0 ≤ w ≤ 15) and Zr33-xFe52+xSi15 (0 ≤ x ≤ 11), were prepared and characterized after annealing at 1538 K in order to determine the fundamental magnetic properties of the C36 and C14 hexagonal Laves phase compounds. A mixture of the cubic C15 and Zr6Fe23 structures was observed instead of the expected C36 structure. The hexagonal C14 was found in all Zr33-xFe52+xSi15 alloys with its lattice parameters linearly decreasing as the Fe(Si) atoms occupy the Zr sites in the Laves phase crystal structure. The solubility limit of Fe in the C14 structure at 1538 K corresponds to x = 9.5. The Curie temperature of the C14 compounds increases with deviation from the Laves phase stoichiometry from 290 K to 530 K. The room-temperature spontaneous magnetization also increases reaching, after correcting for the non-magnetic impurities, a value of 6.7 kG. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the off-stoichiometric C14 Laves phase was found to be uniaxial with the easy magnetization direction parallel to the hexagonal axis. Unfortunately, the anisotropy field, which does not exceed 10 kOe, is not sufficiently high to make the compounds interesting as permanent magnet materials.