Abstract. Hard magnetic nanoparticles based on the Sm₂Co₁₇ and SmCo₅ systems have been successfully produced using a surfactant-assisted ball milling technique. A size-selection process has been developed to obtain nanoparticles of different sizes with narrow size distribution. Significant room-temperature coercivity up to 3.1 kOe has been achieved with the Sm₂Co₁₇-based nanoparticles of an average size of 23 nm. It has been found that surfactants play multifold roles in the processing.

Print publication: Issue 46 (21 November 2007)
Received 6 June 2007, in final form 7 September 2007
Published 12 October 2007