Nanoscale short-range ordering induced cellular structure and microchemistry evolution in Sm2Co17-type magnets

Sm2Co17-type permanent magnets have important application value due to their advanced magnetic properties, which can be ascribed to their unique cellular structure and element segregation in various phases developed after isothermal aging treatment. In this study, the evolution of the microstructure combined with the microchemistry of Sm2Co17-type magnets from solid solution precursor to the cellular structure is investigated, and a new insight into the formation of the cellular structure is provided. We report for the first time that a large number of strip-like nanoscale short-range ordered micro-domains are distributed in the disordered matrix of the solution precursor, which serve as the nucleation centers in the formation of the embryos of the cellular structure. Based on atomic scale structural analyses, a new mechanism concerning the ordering transformation from short-range 2:17R microtwins to long-range 2:17R phase is proposed, involving collective glide of three partial dislocations on successive basal planes with the net Burgers vector to be zero. Furthermore, microchemistry analysis reveals that the segregation of Cu and Fe in the early stage of isothermal aging is accelerated substantially during the ordering transformation, indicating that the ordering transformation can act as a new driving force for element segregation in Sm2Co17-type magnets. These findings provide new considerations for the development of high performance Sm2Co17-type magnets. (C) 2020 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.