Mechanism for Improved Curie Temperature and Magnetic Entropy Change in Sm-Doped Fe88Zr8B4 Amorphous Alloys

Abstract

In the present work, Fe88Zr8−xSmxB4 (x = 2, 4) amorphous alloys (AAs) were successfully synthesized into the shape of 40-micrometer-thick ribbons and their magnetic properties were measured. The Fe88Zr8−xSmxB4 (x = 2, 4) AAs exhibited a rather high maximum magnetic entropy change (−ΔSmpeak): ~3.53 J/(K × kg) near 317 K for x = 2 and ~3.79 J/(K × kg) near 348 K for x = 4 under 5 T. The effects of a Sm substitution for Zr on the Curie temperature (Tc) and −ΔSmpeak were studied and compared to those of Nd and Pr substitutions, for the purpose of revealing the mechanism involved in more detail.