Effect of Composition and Heat Treatment on MnBi Magnetic Materials.

The metallic compound MnBi is a promising rare-earth-free permanent magnet material. Compare to other rare-earth-free candidates, MnBi stands out for its high intrinsic coercivity (Hci) and its large positive temperature coefficient. Several groups have demonstrated that the Hci of MnBi compound in thin film or in powder form can exceed 12 kOe and 26 kOe at 300 K and 523 K, respectively. Such steep increase in Hci with increasing temperature is unique to MnBi. Consequently, MnBi is a highly sought-after hard phase for exchange coupling nanocomposite magnets. The reaction between Mn and Bi is peritectic, so Mn tends to precipitate out of the MnBi liquid during the solidification process. As result, the composition of the Mn-Bi alloy with the largest amount of the desired LTP (low temperature phase) MnBi and highest saturation magnetization will be over-stoichiometric and rich in Mn. The amount of additional Mn required to compensate the Mn precipitation depends on solidification rate: the faster the quench speed, the less Mn precipitates. Here we report a systematic study of the effect of composition and heat treatments on the phase contents and magnetic properties of Mn-Bi alloys. In this study, Mn-Bi alloys with 14 compositions were prepared using conventional metallurgical methods such as arc melting and vacuum heat treatment, and the obtained alloys were analyzed for compositions, crystal structures, phase content, and magnetic properties. The results show that the composition with 55 at.% Mn exhibits the highest LTP MnBi content and the highest magnetization. The sample with this composition shows >90 wt.% LTP MnBi content. Its measured saturation magnetization is 68 emu/g with 2.3 T applied field at 300 K; its coercivity is 13 kOe and its energy product is 12 MGOe at 300 K. A bulk magnet fabricated using this powder exhibits an energy product of 8.2 MGOe.