Effects of Pr on the structure and magnetic properties of FePt alloys

The effects of Pr on the structure and magnetic properties of PrxFe60.5-xPt39.5 alloys (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0. and 1.5) were investigated. X-ray diffraction data indicated that the phase transition temperature of FePt based alloys from disordered face-centered-cubic to ordered face-centered-tetragonal cubic decreases with the increase in Pr concentration. Pr plays the role of a grain refiner and it can enhance the exchange coupling between soft magnetic phase and hard magnetic phase. The results indicate that the replacement of Fe by Pr can significantly improve the remanence and coercivity of the Fe60.5Pt39.5 alloy. These results can be explained on the basis of phase transformation and microstructure. Both the remanence ratio and coercivity of the FePt based alloy as a function of the Pr content are increased by the optimum addition of 0.5 at.% Pr.