Provided is a sputtering target material having excellent crack resistance and a method of producing the same. Also provided is a sputtering target material and a method of producing the same. The sputtering target material is composed of an alloy consisting of B; one or more rare earth elements; and the balance consisting of Co and/or Fe and unavoidable impurities. The amount of B in the alloy is 15 at. % or more and 30 at. % or less. The one or more rare earth elements are selected from the group consisting of Pr, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho. The total amount of the one or more rare earth elements in the alloy is 0.1 at. % or more and 10 at. % or less.

To provide a rare earth magnet having excellent coercive force and a production method thereof. A rare earth magnet, wherein the rare earth magnet comprises a magnetic phase containing Sm, Fe, and N, a Zn phase present around the magnetic phase, and an intermediate phase present between the magnetic phase and the Zn phase, wherein the intermediate phase contains Zn and the oxygen content of the intermediate phase is higher than the oxygen content of the Zn phase; and a method for producing a rare earth magnet, including mixing a magnetic raw material powder having an oxygen content of 1.0 mass % or less and an improving agent powder containing metallic Zn and/or a Zn alloy, and heat-treating the mixed powder.

A method is provided in which a lower box comprising a base, walls that surround the base and an open side, and an upper box comprising a cover, walls that surround the cover and an open side are provided. One or more objects are arranged on the base of the lower box. The object(s) are covered with the upper box such that the open side of the upper is oriented towards the base of the box, the walls of the upper box are arranged on the base of the lower box and a gap is formed between the walls of the upper box and the walls of the lower box. A powder material is introduced into the gap in order to form an assembly having an interior. The powder material provides a mechanical obstacle to gas exchange between the interior and the environment. This assembly is then heat treated.

A magnet material is represented by a composition formula 1: R.sub.xNb.sub.yB.sub.xM.sub.100x-y-z, R is at least one element selected from the group consisting of rare-earth elements, M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Fe and Co, x is a number satisfying 4≤x≤10 atomic %, y is a number satisfying 0.1≤y≤8 atomic %, and z is a number satisfying 0.1≤z≤12 atomic %. The magnet material includes: a main phase having a TbCu.sub.7 crystal phase; and a grain boundary phase. The magnet material satisfies a relation of n.sub.Nb2/n.sub.Nb1>5, where n.sub.Nb1 is an average Nb concentration in the TbCu.sub.7 crystal phase and n.sub.Nb2 is a maximum Nb concentration in the grain boundary phase.

A grain boundary diffusion method for a bulk rare earth permanent magnetic material includes the following steps: (1) fabricating an initial magnet by a sintering, hot pressing, or hot deformation process; (2) loading a grain boundary diffusion alloy source on a surface of the magnet through electrodeposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), direct physical contact, or adhesive bonding; and (3) placing the initial magnet loaded with the grain boundary diffusion alloy source in a SPS device, and heating to obtain a final magnet. The current, plasma, and pressure in an SPS process can be controlled to significantly improve elemental diffusion coefficient and enhance the diffusion depth. The bulk rare earth permanent magnetic material undergoing grain boundary diffusion fabricated in the present disclosure has a significant increase in magnetic properties that catering to commercial demands for industrial production.

A method of producing a SmFeN-based rare earth magnet, the method including: dispersing a SmFeN-based anisotropic magnetic powder including Sm, Fe, La, W, R, and N, wherein R is at least one selected from the group consisting of Ti, Ba, and Sr, using a resin-coated metal media or a resin-coated ceramic media to obtain a dispersed SmFeN-based anisotropic magnetic powder; mixing the dispersed SmFeN-based anisotropic magnetic powder with a modifier powder to obtain a powder mixture; compacting the powder mixture in a magnetic field to obtain a magnetic field compact; pressure-sintering the magnetic field compact to obtain a sintered compact; and heat-treating the sintered compact.

An anisotropic rare earth sintered magnet represented by the formula (R.sub.1-aZr.sub.a).sub.x(Fe.sub.1-b CO.sub.b).sub.100-x-y(M.sup.1.sub.1-cM.sup.2.sub.c).sub.y where R is at least one element selected from rare earth elements and Sm is essential; M.sup.1 is at least one of V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Al, and Si; M.sup.2 is at least one of Ti, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, and W; and x, y, a, b, and c each satisfy certain conditions. The anisotropic rare earth sintered magnet includes 80% by volume or more of a main phase composed of a compound of a ThMn.sub.12 type crystal, the main phase having an average crystal grain size of 1 μm or more, and containing an R-rich phase and an R(Fe,Co).sub.2 phase in a grain boundary portion. A method for producing the anisotropic rare earth sintered magnet is also described.

A high-performance permanent magnet is provided. A permanent magnet expressed by a composition formula: R.sub.pFe.sub.qM.sub.rCu.sub.tCo.sub.100-p-q-r-t-. The magnet comprises a metal structure including a cell phase having a Th.sub.2Zn.sub.17 crystal phase, and a Cu-rich phase provided to divide the cell phase and having a Cu concentration higher than that of the Th.sub.2Zn.sub.17 crystal phase. An Fe concentration of the Th.sub.2Zn.sub.17 crystal phase is not less than 30 atomic % nor more than 45 atomic %. An average length of the Cu-rich phase is not less than 30 nm nor more than 250 nm.

A high-performance permanent magnet is provided. A permanent magnet expressed by a composition formula: (R.sub.1-xA.sub.x).sub.pFe.sub.qM.sub.rCu.sub.tCo.sub.100-p-r-t. The magnet comprises a metal structure including a plurality of crystal grains which constitutes a main phase having a Th.sub.2Zn.sub.17 crystal phase, An Fe concentration of each of the crystal grains is 28 atomic % or more. A concentration difference of the element A among the crystal grains is not less than 0.2 atomic % nor more than 3.0 atomic %.

A permanent magnet is expressed by a composition formula: R.sub.pFe.sub.qM.sub.rCu.sub.sCo.sub.100-p-q-r-s. The magnet includes a crystal grain having a main phase including a TbCu.sub.7 crystal phase, and a volume ratio of the TbCu.sub.7 crystal phase to the main phase is 95% or more.