ANISOTROPY DETERMINATIONS IN EXCHANGE SPRING MAGNETS.
Ferromagnetic nanocomposites, or ''exchange spring'' magnets, possess a nanoscaled microstructure that allows intergrain magnetic exchange forces to couple the constituent grains and alter the system's effective magnetic anisotropies. While the effects of the anisotropy alterations are clearly seen in macroscopic magnetic measurement, it is extremely difficult to determine the detailed effects of the system's exchange coupling, such as the interphase exchange length, the inherent domain wall widths or the effective anisotropies of the system. Clarification of these materials parameters may be obtained from the ''micromagnetic'' phenomenological model, where the assumption of magnetic reversal initiating in the magnetically-soft regions of the exchange-spring maqet is explicitly included. This approach differs from that typically applied by other researchers and allows a quantitative estimate of the effective anisotropies of an exchange spring system. Hysteresis loops measured on well-characterized nanocomposite alloys based on the composition Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B + {alpha}-Fe at temperatures above the spin reorientation temperature were analyzed within the framework of the micromagnetic phenomenological model. Preliminary results indicate that the effective anisotropy constant in the material is intermediate to that of bulk {alpha}-Fe and bulk Nd{sub 2}Fe{sub 14}B and increases with decreasing temperature. These results strongly support the idea that magnetic reversal in nanocomposite systems initiates in the lower-anisotropy regions of the system, and that the soft-phase regions become exchange-hardened by virtue of their proximity to the magnetically-hard regions.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-98CH10886
- OSTI ID:
- 808783
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-71068-2003-CP; R&D Project: MA410MABA; KC0202020; TRN: US0302233
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17TH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON RARE EARTH MAGNETS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS, NEWARK, DE (US), 08/18/2002--08/22/2002; Other Information: PBD: 18 Aug 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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