Microstructure and coercivity of grain boundary diffusion processed Dy-free and Dy-containing NdFeB sintered magnets

Dy distributions in Dy-free and Dy-containing NdFeB sintered magnets in the course of the Dy-vapor grain boundary diffusion (GBD) process have been investigated in order to understand the origin of the high coercivity of 3.0 T that is reachable only when the initial magnet is alloyed with Dy. We have discovered the formation of a secondary Dy-rich shell within the well-known primary Dy-rich shell, which is a key contributor to the 3.0 T coercivity. The coercivity increment of the Dy-containing magnet after the GBD treatment was only 0.08 T, much lower than 0.87 T for the Dy-free magnet; however, it was substantially enhanced by a post-diffusion annealing. Compared to the Dy-free magnet, a larger amount of Dy atoms were diffused from the Nd-rich grain boundary (GB) phase to the primary Dy-rich shell in the Dy-containing magnet after the annealing, resulting in the formation of a secondary Dy-rich shell with a higher Dy-concentration at the GB phase/secondary shell interfaces.