STRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MECHANICAL ALLOYED Mn-15at.%Al
Mechanical alloying (MA) method has been used to produce nanocrystallite Mn -15at.% Al alloy. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns for the as-milled elemental α- Mn and aluminum powder samples show a mixture of α + β- MnAl phases after 20 h of milling and changes to a dominant β- MnAl phase structure after 50 h. An average crystallite size of 40 nm was determined from Hall–Williamson method analysis after 5 h of milling. Moreover, the thermal analysis results using differential thermal analysis (DTA), suggested a possible phase transformation after 20 h of milling. Isothermal treatments are carried in the temperature range of 450°C to 1000°C. Room-temperature vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements of the hysteretic response revealed that the saturation magnetization Bs and coercivity Hc for 10 h ball milled sample are ~ 2.1 emu/g and ~ 92 Oe, respectively.