Soft magnetic materials with stable permeability up to hundreds of megahertz (MHz) are urgently needed for integrated transformers and inductors, which are crucial in the more-than-Moore era. However, traditional frequency-stable soft magnetic ferrites suffer from low saturation magnetization and temperature instability, making them unsuitable for integrated circuits. Herein, we fabricate a frequency-stable soft magnetic composite featuring a magnetic vortex structure via cold-sintering, where ultrafine FeSiAl particles are magnetically isolated and covalently bonded by Al2SiO5/SiO2/Fe2(MoO4)3multilayered heterostructure. This construction results in an ultrastable permeability of 13 up to 1 gigahertz (GHz), relatively large saturation magnetization of 105 Am2/kg and low coercivity of 48 A/m, which we ascribe to the elimination of domain walls associated with almost uniform single-vortex structures, as observed by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy and reconstructed by micromagnetic simulation. Moreover, the ultimate compressive strength has been simultaneously increased up to 337.1 MPa attributed to the epitaxially grown interfaces between particles. This study deepens our understanding on the characteristics of magnetic vortices and provides alternative concept for designing integrated magnetic devices.
High-frequency soft magnetic ferrite ceramics are desired in miniaturized and efficient power electronics but remain extremely challenging to deploy on account of the power loss (Pcv) at megahertz frequencies. Here, we prepared NiCuZn ferrite with superior high-frequency properties by V2O5 and Bi2O3 synergistic doping, which proves to be a potent pathway to reduce Pcv of the ferrite at megahertz frequencies. The sample doped with 800 ppm V2O5 and 800 ppm Bi2O3 yielded the most optimized magnetic properties with a Pcv of 113 kW/m3 (10 MHz, 5 mT, 25 °C), an initial permeability (μi) of 89, and a saturation induction (Bs) of 340 mT, which is at the forefront of the reported results. These outstanding properties are closely related to the notable grain boundary structure, which features a new type of nano-Bi2Fe4O9 phase around ferrite grains and a Ca/Si/V/O amorphous layer. Our results indicate great strides in correlating the grain boundary structure with multiple-ion doping and set the scene for the developing high-frequency soft magnet ferrites.
15 October 2018 in Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics