GIANT ENERGY PRODUCT IN NANOSTRUCTURED 2-PHASE MAGNETS

Exchange hardening of nanostructured two-phase systems composed of an aligned hard phase and a soft phase with high magnetization is investigated using an approach which yields analytic nucleation fields from the micromagnetic vector equation, and accounts for interactions between the soft regions. In suitable structures the nucleation field is proportional to the volume-averaged anisotropy constant. For example, a multilayer composed of alternating 2.4 nm hard-magnetic SM2Fe17N3 layers and 9 nm Fe65Co35 layers can have an energy product as high as 1 MJ/m3 (1 20 MG Oe), with a rare-earth content of only 5 wt %. Giant energy products may also be achieved in suitable cellular and disordered structures.