To Örebro University

In this work, we present experimental and theoretical results on SmFe12-xVx (x = 0.5 - 2.0) alloys with the ThMn12 (1:12) structure as possible candidates for rare earth-lean permanent magnets. The compound with x = 2 has been previously reported to have a Curie temperature of 330 degrees C, saturation magnetization of about 80 Am-2/kg, and anisotropy field around 9 T. We have synthesized the SmFe11V compound with a nearly pure 1:12 phase; the x = 0.5 compound couldn't be synthesized. The relative stability of the x = 1, 2 compounds was addressed theoretically by enthalpy calculations from first principles. The newly synthesized SmFe11V compound has a Curie temperature of 361 degrees C and saturation magnetization of 115 Am-2/kg (1.12 T). The anisotropy field has been obtained in magnetically-oriented fine powders, and is around 11 T. These parameters make SmFe11V a good candidate for a new kind of high energy, rare earth-lean permanent magnets.