Preparation of Nd-Fe-B/α-Fe nano-composite thick-film magnets on various substrates using PLD with high laser energy density above 10 J/cm2

Abstract

PLD (Pulsed Laser Deposition) method with high laser energy density (LED) above 10 J/cm2 followed by a flash annealing enabled us to obtain isotropic nano-composite thick-film magnets with (BH)max ≧ 80 kJ/m3 on polycrystalline Ta substrates. We also have demonstrated that a dispersed structure composed of α-Fe together with Nd2Fe14B phases with the average grain diameter of approximately 20 nm could be formed on the Ta substrates. In this study, we tried to enhance the (BH)max value by controlling the microstructure due to the usage of different metal based substrates with each high melting point such as Ti, Nb, and W. Although it was difficult to vary the microstructure and to improve the magnetic properties of the films deposited on the substrates, we confirmed that isotropic thick-film magnets with (BH)max ≧ 80 kJ/m3 based on the nano-dispersed α-Fe and Nd2Fe14B phases could be obtained on various metal substrates with totally different polycrystalline structure. On the other hand, the use of a glass substrate lead to the deterioration of magnetic properties of a film prepared using the same preparation process.