Effect of Co on crystalline behavior and magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-Al bulk amorphous alloys

The effect of Co on crystalline behavior and magnetic properties of Nd-Fe-Al based bulk amorphous alloys was investigated by differential scanning calormrter (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results indicate that the glass forming ability can be improved significantly by the addition of Co. The Curie temperature for the as-cast Nd_(60)Fe_(30-x)Al_(10)Co_x alloys increase with increasing Co content. The as-cast Nd_(60)Fe_(30-x)Al_(10)Co_x (x=0,5,10) alloys show hard magnetic behavior at room temperature. With the addition of Co, the intrinsic coercivity changes slightly while the saturation magnetization and remanence decrease. Some precipitation of crystalline phases did not affect the hard magnetic properties of Nd_(60)Fe_(30-x)Al_(10)Co_x (x=0,5,10) alloys, while the hard magnetic behavior disappeared quickly when the alloys were completely crystallized.