Fabrication of ultrafine Nd-Fe-B powder by a modified reduction-diffusion process

In order to obtain ultrafine Nd-Fe-B powder, a spray-dried precursor was treated by reduction-diffusion (R/D) process. And, unlike the conventional R/D process, calcium reduction that is a crucial step for the formation of Nd2Fe14B was performed without conglomerating the precursor with Ca powder. By adopting this modified process, it is possible to synthesize the hard magnetic Nd2Fe14B at the reaction temperature as low as 850 degrees C. The average size of Nd2Fe14B particles that are uniformly distributed in the optimally treated powder was << 1 mu m. Most Nd2Fe14B particles were enclosed with thin layers of Nd-rich phase. Typical magnetic properties of such powder without eliminating impurity CaO were H-i(c) = similar to 5.9 kOe, B-r = similar to 5.5 kG, and (BH)(max) = similar to 6 MGOe.