Microstructure and hard magnetic properties in bulk rods of Nd60Fe30Al10 glass forming alloys

The Nd60Fe30Al10 alloy exhibits a large glass forming ability which allows to obtain relatively thick cast rods containing large volume fractions of amorphous phases. In this work the microstructure and the hard magnetic properties of as-cast rods are characterized. The alloy is processed by suction casting into a chilled copper mould to obtain cylinders 5 mm diameter and 50 mm length. This diameter is selected because it is an upper limit for this processing route, beyond which the hard properties largely deteriorate. A room temperature coercivity of 0.34 T is obtained. The sample microstructure is heterogeneous, with very different size scales near the surface and along the central zone. However, in both regions a large fraction of an amorphous ferromagnetic phase is observed; it is found that paramagnetic nanocrystalline phases - mainly Nd or Nd-rich particles, embedded in the amorphous matrix - are somewhat coarser in the central zone. These larger nanocrystals, less efficient to pin domain walls, are proposed to be responsible for the lower coercive fields observed, as compared with those found in cylinders 1-3 mm diameter where no inhomogeneities are found. This conclusion is supported by microstructure, calorimetric and magnetic observations.