Abstract
SmCo 7 -based compounds are prototypical rare-earth based hard magnetic materials that are the backbone of numerous devices and applications. We have found that by doping the SmCo 7 phase with Niobium (e.g. SmCo 6.7 Nb 0.3 ), the enhanced coercivity being measured. Using a combination of microstructural and compositional characterization techniques with ab initio calculations, we find that the Nb-doping stabilizes the nanocrystalline nature of the material by residing at the 2e site of the SmCo 7 structure, decreases the average grain size, and substantially increases the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant (K) (e.g. from 1.25 × 10 7 erg/cm 3 for SmCo 7 to 1.40 × 10 7 erg/cm 3 for SmCo 6.7 Nb 0.3 ). A significant enhancement in coercivity with Nb doping is attributed to the increased K and the reduced grain size.