| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1259905 | Journal of Rare Earths | 2012 | 4 Pages |
Effect of conventional thermal annealing (CTA) and rapid recurrent thermal annealing (RRTA) processes on crystal structure, microstructure, and magnetic properties of the SmCo-based films were investigated. The results indicated that the CTA-treated films exhibited poor permanent magnetic properties, and a low intrinsic coercivity of 72.8 kA/m was observed. Wide hysteresis loop was obtained for the RRTA-treated films, providing better permanent magnetic properties. The intrinsic coercivity reached 312.0 kA/m. According to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results, the magnetic properties of the CTA-treated films and RRTA-treated films were found to be correlated with the crystal structure and microstructure, which were strongly determined by the annealing treatment. CTA treatment led to poor crystallization effects for the films, and a rough surface (RMS=3.47 nm and P-V=35.42 nm) and large grain size of 92.7 nm were observed correspondingly. However, the RRTA treatment exhibited great contributions on the crystallization of the films, which is accountable for the smooth surface (RMS=2.047 nm and P-V=16.43 nm) and fine grain size of 60.8 nm.
