Method for producing powder for magnet

Abstract

Provided are a method for producing powder for a magnet, and methods for producing a powder compact, a rare-earth-iron-based alloy material, and a rare-earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material. Magnetic particles constituting the powder each have a texture in which grains of a phase of a hydride of a rare-earth element are dispersed in a phase of an iron-containing material. The uniform presence of the phase of the iron-containing material in each magnetic particle results in powder having excellent formability, thereby providing a powder compact having high relative density. The powder is produced by heat-treating rare-earth-iron-based alloy powder in a hydrogen atmosphere to separate the rare-earth element and the iron-containing material and then forming a hydride of the rare-earth element. The powder is compacted. The powder compact is heat-treated in vacuum to form a rare-earth-iron-based alloy material. The rare-earth-iron-based alloy material is heat-treated in a nitrogen atmosphere to form a rare-earth-iron-nitrogen-based alloy material.