Abstract

The transformation from ε to τ phase is investigated in manganese-aluminium (Mn<inf>55</inf>Al<inf>45</inf>) alloyed by the induction melting. By annealing Mn<inf>55</inf>Al<inf>45</inf> at 450–550°C for 2 h, the ferromagnetic τ-MnAl is enhanced at the expense of ε phase. The largest coercivity of 1139 Oe and remanent magnetization of 3.71 emu/g are obtained after annealing at 550°C. The additions of 1 and 2% carbon affect the phase and magnetic properties of Mn<inf>55</inf>Al<inf>45</inf> but the 2 h annealing at 550°C still leads to the largest coercivity. Interestingly, substantial coercivity and magnetizations are directly obtained in (Mn<inf>55</inf>Al<inf>45</inf>)<inf>98</inf>C<inf>2</inf> and (Mn<inf>55</inf>Al<inf>45</inf>)<inf>97</inf>C<inf>3</inf> by the induction melting without further heat treatments.