Analyses of the factors for the demagnetization of permanent magnets caused by high-energy electron irradiation

Demagnetization owing to high-energy electron irradiation has been analyzed for permanent magnets used in insertion devices of synchrotron radiation sources, using the Monte Carlo code FLUKA. The experimental data of a thermally treated Nd₂Fe₁₄B permanent magnet with a copper or a tantalum block at electron energies ranging from 2 to 8 GeV were compared with the calculation data of the absorbed doses, photoneutron production distributions and star densities. The results indicate that low-energy photoneutrons and bremsstrahlung photons are not involved in the demagnetization process, and suggest that the star density owing to the photoneutrons is strongly correlated with the demagnetization process.