BACKGROUND:  Known metallurgical and physical deposition methods for fabricating Co-Sm permanent magnets are limited by high materials and processing costs. Their application is thus limited to high temperature and corrosive environments where costs are of secondary importance, such as aeronautic/military applications and magnetic couplings in hot environments.

INNOVATION:  The novel development is a continuous, low capital and operating cost process. It produces Co-Sm alloys from aqueous plating solutions by electrodeposition. Manufacturing costs of the electrodeposition method can be as little as one-tenth that of other known physical methods. Furthermore, this process enables electroforming (an electrodeposition procedure) of magnetic materials on complex geometries, which cannot be achieved by other processes currently in use. The substantial savings in manufacturing costs, and considerable lower materials costs for nanotechnology applications, will greatly expand the global market share of high performance Co-Sm permanent magnets fabricated by electrodeposition from aqueous media.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS 

• High performance nanostructured permanent magnets
• Dramatically miniaturized devices including electric motors, generators, actuators, alternators, accelerometers, gyros, magnetron tubes, magnetic couplings, magnetic bearings, centrifuges, weighing systems, loudspeakers, earphones, microphones, hearing aids, computer hard drives, video camcorders, industrial robots, ship and submarine propulsion, maglev trains, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Thick film deposition for Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) devices
• New industrial applications and improved performance of known applications

ADVANTAGES

• Obtains Co-Sm alloys through a continuous, low capital and operating cost process
• Enables the electroforming of magnetic materials on complex geometries
• Provides a low cost process with simple setup, easy maintenance, low temperature operation, and low energy consumption

DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE:  The novel process has been experimentally tested and verified.

Reference: UCLA Case No. 2007-140