Optimization of Nitriding Regimes for Sm₂Fe₁₇ Alloy Powder

Currently, the most actively developing area in the field of permanent magnets is development of those based on compounds of rare-earth metals with transition metals. This is due to their unique magnetic properties that surpass those for ferrite and lithium magnets by several factors and makes them irreplaceable with utilization in aero and automobile building, robot technology, computers, etc. Among all of the compounds of iron with rare-earth elements, the greatest iron content and, consequently, highest saturation magnetization applies to R₂Fe₁₇ compounds (R is rare-earth element). Regimes are studied for nitriding alloy powders (Sm_0.9Zr_0.1)Fe₁₇ and Sm₂(Fe_0.9Co_0.1)₁₇ in a nitrogen atmosphere with excess pressure of 15 kPa and temperature of 440–450°C. Dependences are established for phase composition and main magnetic parameters of nitriding regime.