NdFe12Nx hard-magnetic compound with high magnetization and anisotropy field

The NdF12Nx compound with a ThMn12 structure (space group I4/mmm) was successfully synthesized by nitriding an NdFe12 layer grown on a W underlayer on a single-crystalline MgO(001) substrate. The c-axis expanded from 0.480 to 0.492 nm while the a-axis showed a slight contraction from 0.852 to 0.849 nm after the nitriding. Excellent intrinsic hard magnetic properties of mu M-0(s) approximate to 1.66 +/- 0.08 T, mu H-0(a) approximate to 8 T, and T-c approximate to 550 degrees C, which are superior to those of Nd2Fe14B, were obtained. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.