Coercivity Enhancement in Zr2Co11-Based Nanocrystalline Materials Due to Mo Addition

The Mo-content dependence of structure and magnetic properties of Zr16Co78-xMoxSi3B3 (x = 0, 2, 3, 4, 5) nanocrystalline materials has been studied. The samples consist of hard-magnetic Zr2Co11 and soft-magnetic Co phases. The substitution of Mo for Co restrains the formation of Co, raises the content of Zr2CO11, and increases the mean grain size of Zr2O11. Therefore, the coercive force of the sample increases with x. A coercive force of 7.9 kOe, which is a highest value reported among Zr-Co alloys, was achieved for x = 5. The anisotropy field of Zr2Co11 remains almost unchanged with increasing Mo content.