Structural and magnetic properties of samarium iron and related alloys

There were three research objectives. The first objective was to determine what controls the structural scale of the microstructure in Sm-Fe alloys. The second objective was to study the morphological development of antiphase domains. The last objective was to determine the effect of the microstructural state on the coercivity and magnetization reversal of Sm₂Fe ₁₇N_x.; The as-solidified alloys had large grains with irregular shape but the metal carbide modified alloys had a refinement of the microstructural scale and improved homogeneous grain shape. The magnitude of the scale reduction depended on the additives. It was determined that an important factor for the refinement was the glass forming ability of the alloy composition. The evidence points to solute segregation at the solidification boundary as the dominant mechanism that controls the grain size.; The as-solidified binary alloy had significant strain. As annealing occurs the development of antiphase domains causes the reduction of strain, which reduces the defect density. A similar morphology occurs in the TiC modified alloy. It was discovered that order pattern in the antiphase domains has a twin symmetry. This is a new structural feature that has not been seen in antiphase domains before and is called rebel ordering.; The recoil data showed that nucleation of reversed domains causes a peak in the remanent susceptibility curve. However, when domain wall pinning occurs there are fluctuations. It was discovered that as the loop shape improves, the separation between the coercivity and the peak center decreases linearly with either the squareness ratio or the fullness factor. The nitrided binary alloy coercivity decreases with increasing ordering. However, there is a narrow order parameter region where the antiphase structure effectively pins domain walls resulting in an enhancement of the coercivity. The microstructural scale affects the coercivity. The single domain limit was determined to be about 300 nm. When it is below such limit the coercivity is enhanced but once the grain size exceeds the limit the coercivity drastically drops.