Opportunity

Producing soft magnetic alloys with tightly controlled properties requires heat treatments that can tune microstructures without introducing large thermal gradients or slow furnace cycles. Engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) designed a single-mode microwave processing system that creates spatially distinct regions of pure magnetic and pure electric fields inside the same chamber. Amorphous alloy segments are automatically positioned in one of these field regions, where microwave energy couples directly into the material to generate internal heating between 400 and 700°C. Because the chamber geometry separates electric and magnetic field maxima, operators can select annealing conditions that influence permeability, microstructural evolution or stress relief with high spatial precision. Automated loading and unloading supports continuous, in-line treatment of short alloy sections, enabling consistent production of tape-wound cores and other magnetic components. This approach provides a controllable alternative to conventional furnace annealing while allowing real time adjustment of stress, temperature and processing speed. This technology is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from NETL in partnership with Penn State.