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Large Coercivity In Nanostructured Rare-Earth-Free Mnₓga Films, Don Heiman, Tom Nummy, Steve Bennett, Tom Cardinal

Donald Heiman

The magnetic hysteresis of MnₓGa films exhibit remarkably large coercive fields as high as μₒHC=2.5 T when fabricated with nanoscale particles of a suitable size and orientation. This coercivity is an order of magnitude larger than in well-ordered epitaxial film counterparts and bulk materials. The enhanced coercivity is attributed to the combination of large magnetocrystalline anisotropy and ~50-100 nm size nanoparticles. The large coercivity is also replicated in the electrical properties through the anomalous Hall effect. The magnitude of the coercivity approaches that found in rare-earth magnets, making them attractive for rare-earth-free magnet applications.