Abstract:
An objective of the present invention is to provide an R—Fe—B based sintered magnet having on the surface thereof a vapor deposited film of aluminum or an alloy thereof, which maintains excellent adhesion strength with the adhered object even after subjecting it to a severe heat cycle test, and a method for producing the same. As a means for solving the problems, an R—Fe—B based sintered magnet having on the surface thereof a vapor deposited film of aluminum or an alloy thereof of the present invention is characterized in that the vapor deposited film of aluminum or an alloy thereof comprises a columnar crystalline structure grown broader from the surface of the bulk magnet body outward to the outer surface, which has a part within a region defined in the thickness direction of the film as taken from the surface of the bulk magnet body to ⅓ of the film thickness, 5 to 30 intercrystalline gaps of 0.01 μm to 1 μm in width as counted per 10 μm length in the lateral direction of the film are existing at the part. The method for producing the same is characterized by, on forming the vapor deposited film of aluminum or an alloy thereof on the surface of the R—Fe—B based sintered magnet, individually controlling the average film formation rate in the initial stage and in the later stage of the film formation as such that it is slower up to a predetermined point, and that it is speeded up later thereon.
Abstract:
In an R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet according to the present invention, at a depth of 20 μm under the surface of its magnet body, crystal grains of an R2Fe14B type compound have an (RL1-xRHx)2Fe14B (where 0.2≦x≦0.75) layer with a thickness of 1 nm to 2 μm in their outer periphery. In this case, the light rare-earth element RL is at least one of Nd and Pr, and the heavy rare-earth element RH is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Dy, Ho and Tb.