Magnetic and mechanical effects of Mn substitutions in AlFe2B2

The mechanical and magnetic properties of the newly discovered MAB-phase class of materials based upon AlFe2B2 were investigated. The samples were synthesised from stoichiometric amounts of all constituent elements. X-ray diffraction shows that the main phase is orthorhombic with an elongated b-axis, similar to AlFe2B2. The low hardness and visual inspection of the samples after deformation indicate that these compounds are deformed via a delamination process. When substituting iron in AlFe2B2 with manganese, the magnetism in the system goes from being ferro- to antiferromagnetic via a disordered ferrimagnetic phase exhibited by AlFeMnB2. Density functional theory calculations indicate a weakening of the magnetic interactions among the transitions metal ions as iron is substituted by manganese in AlFe2B2. The Mn-Mn exchange interactions in AlMn2 B2 are found to be very small

Tuning skyrmions in B20 compounds by 4d and 5d doping

Skyrmion stabilization in novel magnetic systems with the B20 crystal structure is reported here, primarily based on theoretical results. The focus is on the effect of alloying on the 3d sublattice of the B20 structure by substitution of heavier 4d and 5d elements, with the ambition to tune the spin-orbit coupling and its influence on magnetic interactions. State-of-the-art methods based on density functional theory are used to calculate both isotropic and anisotropic exchange interactions. Significant enhancement of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is reported for 5d-doped FeSi and CoSi, accompanied by a large modification of the spin stiffness and spiralization. Micromagnetic simulations coupled to atomistic spin-dynamics and ab initio magnetic interactions reveal a helical ground state and field-induced skyrmions for all these systems. Especially small skyrmions $\sim$50 nm are predicted for Co$_{0.75}$Os$_{0.25}$Si, compared to $\sim$148 nm for Fe$_{0.75}$Co$_{0.25}$Si. Convex-hull analysis suggests that all B20 compounds considered here are structurally stable at elevated temperatures and should be possible to synthesize. This prediction is confirmed experimentally by synthesis and structural analysis of the Ru-doped CoSi systems discussed here, both in powder and in single-crystal forms.Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures, 9 table

Structure-Magnetism Relations in Selected Iron-based Alloys : A New Base for Rare Earth Free Magnetic Materials

Materials for energy applications are of great importance for a sustainable future society. Among these, stronger, lighter and more efficient magnetic materials will be able to aid mankind in many applications for energy conversion, for example generators for energy production, electric vehicles and magnetic refrigerators. Another requirement for the materials is that they should be made from cheap and abundant elements. For these reasons temperature induced magnetic transitions for three materials were studied in this work; one for permanent magnet applications and two magnetocaloric materials. Fe5SiB2 has a high Curie temperature and orders ferromagnetically at 760 K, providing possible application as a permanent magnet material. The ordering of the magnetic moments were studied and found to be aligned along the tetragonal c-axis and Fe5SiB2 undergoes a spin transition on cooling through a transition temperature (172 K), where the spins reorient along the a-axis in an easy plane. AlFe2B2 orders ferromagnetically at 285 K, making it a candidate for the active material in a magnetic refrigerator. The order of the magnetic transition has been studied as well as the magnetic structure. It was found that the magnetic moments are aligned along the crystallographic a-axis and that the magnetic transition is of second order. FeMnP0.75Si0.25 undergoes a first order magnetic transition around 200 K and the transition temperatures on cooling are different for the first cooling/heating cycle than for following cycles. This so called ”virgin effect” has been studied and found to originate from an irreversible structure change on the first cooling cycle through the ferromagnetic transition temperature

Structure-Magnetism Relations in Selected Iron-based Alloys : A New Base for Rare Earth Free Magnetic Materials

Materials for energy applications are of great importance for a sustainable future society. Among these, stronger, lighter and more efficient magnetic materials will be able to aid mankind in many applications for energy conversion, for example generators for energy production, electric vehicles and magnetic refrigerators. Another requirement for the materials is that they should be made from cheap and abundant elements. For these reasons temperature induced magnetic transitions for three materials were studied in this work; one for permanent magnet applications and two magnetocaloric materials. Fe5SiB2 has a high Curie temperature and orders ferromagnetically at 760 K, providing possible application as a permanent magnet material. The ordering of the magnetic moments were studied and found to be aligned along the tetragonal c-axis and Fe5SiB2 undergoes a spin transition on cooling through a transition temperature (172 K), where the spins reorient along the a-axis in an easy plane. AlFe2B2 orders ferromagnetically at 285 K, making it a candidate for the active material in a magnetic refrigerator. The order of the magnetic transition has been studied as well as the magnetic structure. It was found that the magnetic moments are aligned along the crystallographic a-axis and that the magnetic transition is of second order. FeMnP0.75Si0.25 undergoes a first order magnetic transition around 200 K and the transition temperatures on cooling are different for the first cooling/heating cycle than for following cycles. This so called ”virgin effect” has been studied and found to originate from an irreversible structure change on the first cooling cycle through the ferromagnetic transition temperature

Magnetic Materials for Cool Applications : Relations between Structure and Magnetism in Rare Earth Free Alloys

New and more efficient magnetic materials for energy applications are a big necessity for sustainable future. Whether the application is energy conversion or refrigeration, materials based on sustainable elements should be used, which discards all rare earth elements. For energy conversion, permanent magnets with high magnetisation and working temperature are needed whereas for refrigeration, the entropy difference between the non-magnetised and magnetised states should be large. For this reason, magnetic materials have been synthesised with high temperature methods and structurally and magnetically characterised with the aim of making a material with potential for large scale applications. To really determine the cause of the physical properties the connections between structure (crystalline and magnetic) and, mainly, the magnetic properties have been studied thoroughly. The materials that have been studied have all been iron based and exhibit properties with potential for the applications in mind. The first system, for permanent magnet applications, was Fe5SiB2. It was found to be unsuitable for a permanent magnet, however, an interesting magnetic behaviour was studied at low temperatures. The magnetic behaviour arose from a change in the magnetic structure which was solved by using neutron diffraction. Substitutions with phosphorus (Fe5Si1-xPxB2) and cobalt (Fe1-xCox)5PB2 were then performed to improve the permanent magnet potential. While the permanent magnetic potential was not improved with cobalt substitutions the magnetic transition temperature could be greatly controlled, a real benefit for magnetic refrigeration. For this purpose AlFe2B2 was also studied, and there it was found, conclusively, that the material undergoes a second order transition, making it unsuitable for magnetic cooling. However, the magnetic structure was solved with two different methods and was found to be ferromagnetic with all magnetic moments aligned along the crystallographic a-direction. Lastly, the origin of magnetic cooling was studied in Fe2P, and can be linked to the interactions between the magnetic and atomic vibrations

Synthesis and characterizationof rare earth free magnetic materialsfor permanent magnet applications

In this thesis the compounds Fe5SiB2 and Fe5PB2 have beensynthesized via high temperature synthesis, including arc melting anddrop synthesis. The structure for both compounds are of Cr5B3 typewith the space group I4/mcm. The cell parameters were refined toa = 5.5533 Å and c = 10.3405 Å for Fe5SiB2 and a = 5.4903 Å andc = 10.3527 Å for Fe5PB2. The saturation magnetization at roomtemperature for Fe5SiB2 has been measured to 138.8 Am2/kg and theanisotropy constant has been estimated to 79 kJ/m3. Theferromagnetic properties and the high anisotropy constant makesthese materials promising as permanent magnet materials, but moreinvestigations are necessary

Structure-Magnetism Relations in Selected Iron-based Alloys : A New Base for Rare Earth Free Magnetic Materials

Materials for energy applications are of great importance for a sustainable future society. Among these, stronger, lighter and more efficient magnetic materials will be able to aid mankind in many applications for energy conversion, for example generators for energy production, electric vehicles and magnetic refrigerators. Another requirement for the materials is that they should be made from cheap and abundant elements. For these reasons temperature induced magnetic transitions for three materials were studied in this work; one for permanent magnet applications and two magnetocaloric materials. Fe5SiB2 has a high Curie temperature and orders ferromagnetically at 760 K, providing possible application as a permanent magnet material. The ordering of the magnetic moments were studied and found to be aligned along the tetragonal c-axis and Fe5SiB2 undergoes a spin transition on cooling through a transition temperature (172 K), where the spins reorient along the a-axis in an easy plane. AlFe2B2 orders ferromagnetically at 285 K, making it a candidate for the active material in a magnetic refrigerator. The order of the magnetic transition has been studied as well as the magnetic structure. It was found that the magnetic moments are aligned along the crystallographic a-axis and that the magnetic transition is of second order. FeMnP0.75Si0.25 undergoes a first order magnetic transition around 200 K and the transition temperatures on cooling are different for the first cooling/heating cycle than for following cycles. This so called ”virgin effect” has been studied and found to originate from an irreversible structure change on the first cooling cycle through the ferromagnetic transition temperature