Hrl Laboratories, LLC

Amber Sucich

Brennan D Yahata

Eric C Clough

Darby Laplant

Tobias A Schaedler

Christopher Paul Henry

Christopher B Henry

This invention provides methods for fabricating a hard or soft magnet with tailorable magnetic and crystallographic orientations. Methods are disclosed to individually tailor three-dimensional voxels for selected crystallographic orientations and, independently, selected magnetic orientations with location specificity throughout a magnet. Some variations provide a method of making a magnet, comprising: providing a feedstock composition containing magnetic or magnetically susceptible materials; exposing the feedstock composition to an energy source for melting, thereby generating a first melt layer; solidifying the first melt layer in the presence of an externally applied magnetic field, thereby generating a magnetic metal layer containing a plurality of individual voxels; optionally repeating to generate a plurality of solid layers; and recovering a magnet comprising the magnetic metal layer(s), wherein the externally applied magnetic field has a magnetic-field orientation that is selected to control a magnetic axis and a crystallographic texture within the magnetic metal layer(s).

Methods for tailoring magnetism, and structures obtained therefrom

Some variations provide a method of tailoring the surface of a soft magnet, comprising: depositing an austenite-phase-stabilizing donor material on one or more first surface regions of a ferromagnetic receiver material; not depositing the austenite-phase-stabilizing donor material on one or more second surface regions of the ferromagnetic receiver material; laser melting the austenite-phase-stabilizing donor material into the first surface regions; and solidifying the molten austenite-phase-stabilizing donor material within the first surface regions, thereby selectively alloying the ferromagnetic receiver material in the first surface regions. Laser ablation may be utilized instead of laser melting. The first surface regions have a significantly higher magnetic permeability, following the selective alloying of the donor material, compared to the second surface regions. Soft magnets with surface-tailored magnetic permeability are provided by this technology, which is demonstrated using several examples. One commercial application is selectively alloyed soft magnets for a rotor in an electric motor.

Methods for tailoring the magnetic permeability of soft magnets, and soft magnets obtained therefrom

Some variations provide a permanent-magnet structure comprising: a region having a plurality of magnetic domains and a region-average magnetic axis, wherein each of the magnetic domains has a domain magnetic axis that is substantially aligned with the region-average magnetic axis, and wherein the plurality of magnetic domains is characterized by an average magnetic domain size. Within the region, there is a plurality of metal-containing grains characterized by an average grain size, and each of the magnetic domains has a domain easy axis that is dictated by a crystallographic texture of the metal-containing grains. The region has a region-average easy axis based on the average value of the domain easy axis within that region. The region-average magnetic axis and the region-average easy axis form a region-average alignment angle that has a standard deviation less than 30° within the plurality of magnetic domains. Many permanent-magnet structures are disclosed herein.

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Calabasas, CA, United States of America

Amber Sucich