Effect of Li3N addition by mechanical alloying on Nd2Fe14B—Formation of NdN2, The

Curie temperatures of R2Fe17 and RTiFe11 (R=rare earths) can be raised drastically by addition of interstitial nitrogen. Can one see similar effects in Nd2Fe14B? This question is particularly interesting because Nd2Fe14B's relatively low Curie temperature has limited its applications in high temperature operations. Nitrogen additions by heat treating Nd2Fe14B in flowing N2 at different temperatures have been reported to raise its Curie temperature by 20-50 °C. We report an attempt of nitriding Nd2Fe14B by mechanical alloying it with Li3N. Our attempt resulted in the formation of a rare form of neodymium nitride, NdN2. The original goal to nitride Nd2Fe14B by mechanical alloying it with Li3N seems to be inapplicable.