Methods for tailoring magnetism, and structures obtained therefrom

Abstract

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).