Theoretical Magnet Design : From the electronic structure of solid matter to new permanent magnets

Abstract: A good permanent magnet should possess a large saturation magnetisation (Ms), large mag- netocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) and a high Curie temperature (TC). A difficult but important challenge to overcome for a sustainable permanent magnet industry is to find novel magnetic materials, exhibiting a large MAE, without the use of scarcely available elements such as rare-earth metals. The purpose of this thesis is to apply computational methods, including density functional theory and Monte Carlo simulations, to assess the three above mentioned permanent magnet properties and in particular to discover new replacement materials with large MAE without the use of critical materials such as rare-earths.One of the key results is the theoretical prediction of a tetragonal phase of Fe1−xCox-C with large Ms and significantly increased MAE which is later also experimentally confirmed. Furthermore, other potential materials are surveyed and in particular the properties of a number of binary alloys in the L10 structure, FeNi, CoNi, MnAl and MnGa, are thoroughly investigated and shown to posses the desired properties under certain conditions.