Powder for magnet

Abstract

Provided are a powder for a magnet, which provides a rare-earth magnet having excellent magnet properties and which has excellent formability, a method for producing the powder for a magnet, a powder compact, a rare-earth-iron-based alloy material, and a rare-earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material which are used as materials for the magnet, and methods for producing the powder compact and these alloy materials. Magnetic particlesconstituting the powder for a magnet each have a texture in which grains of a phaseof a hydride of a rare-earth element are dispersed in a phaseof an iron-containing material, such as Fe. The uniform presence of the phaseof the iron-containing material in each magnetic particleresults in the powder having excellent formability, thereby providing a powder compacthaving a high relative density. The powder for a magnet is produced by heat-treating a rare-earth-iron-based alloy powder in a hydrogen atmosphere to separate the rare-earth element and the iron-containing material from each other and then forming a hydride of the rare-earth element. The powder for a magnet is subjected to compacting to form the powder compact. The powder compactis subjected to heat treatment in vacuum to form a rare-earth-iron-based alloy material. The rare-earth-iron-based alloy materialis subjected to heat treatment in a nitrogen atmosphere to form a rare-earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material