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arXiv · 2509.13859

Direct observation of nanoscale pinning centers in Ce(Co0.8Cu0.2)5.4 permanent magnets

Nikita Polin·Shangbin Shen·Fernando Maccari·Alex Aubert·Esmaeil Adabifiroozjaei·Tatiana Smoliarova·Yangyiwei Yang·Xinren Chen·Yurii Skourski·Alaukik Saxena·András Kovács·Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski·Michael Farle·Bai-Xiang Xu·Leopoldo Molina-Luna·Oliver Gutfleisch·Baptiste Gault·Konstantin Skokov
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Abstract

Permanent magnets containing rare earth elements are essential components for the electrification of society. Ce(Co1-xCux)5 permanent magnets are a model system known for their substantial coercivity, yet the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we investigate Ce(Co0.8Cu0.2)5.4 magnets with a coercivity of ~1 T. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT), we identify a nanoscale cellular structure formed by spinodal decomposition. Cu-poor cylindrical cells (~5-10 nm in diameter, ~20 nm long) have a disordered CeCo5-type structure and a composition Ce(Co0.9Cu0.1)5.3. Cu-rich cell boundaries are ~ 5 nm thick and exhibit a modified CeCo5 structure, with Cu ordered on the Co sites and a composition Ce(Co0.7Cu0.3)5.0. Micromagnetic simulations demonstrate that the intrinsic Cu concentration gradients up to 12 at.% Cu/nm lead to a spatial variation in magnetocrystalline anisotropy and domain wall energy, resulting in effective pinning and high coercivity. Compared to Sm2Co17-type magnets, Ce(Co0.8Cu0.2)5.4 displays a finer-scale variation of conventional pinning with lower structural and chemical contrast in its underlying nanostructure. The identification of nanoscale chemical segregation in nearly single-phase Ce(Co0.8Cu0.2)5.4 magnets provides a microstructural basis for the long-standing phenomenon of "giant intrinsic magnetic hardness" in systems such as SmCo5-xMx, highlighting avenues for designing rare-earth-lean permanent magnets via controlled nanoscale segregation.

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Nikita Polin, Shangbin Shen, Fernando Maccari, Alex Aubert, Esmaeil Adabifiroozjaei, Tatiana Smoliarova, Yangyiwei Yang, Xinren Chen, Yurii Skourski, Alaukik Saxena, András Kovács, Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski, Michael Farle, Bai-Xiang Xu, Leopoldo Molina-Luna, Oliver Gutfleisch, Baptiste Gault, Konstantin Skokov. 2025-09-17. Direct observation of nanoscale pinning centers in Ce(Co0.8Cu0.2)5.4 permanent magnets. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.13859

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