Surface Morphology and Magnetic Properties of (Sm,Gd)Fe2 With Laves Phase Structure

The magnetic and magnetostrictive properties of single-phase SmFe
₂
and GdFe
₂
alloys made by induction melting were investigated and compared. Atomic force and magnetic force microscopy were used to study the surface features of the alloys. Both alloys were granular; large structural elements consisted of finer grains, 40 to 80 nm in size. On the surface of a polished section of GdFe
₂
, several types of magnetic domains structure were evident. Some areas had an absence of magnetic structure. A polished section of SmFe
₂
had a pronounced domain structure of complex shape, consisting of islands 6 to 12 μm in size and bands 3 to 5 μm wide.