Perspective and Prospects for Rare Earth Permanent Magnets

Rare earth permanent magnets constitute a mature technology, but the shock of the 2011 rare earth crisis led to the re-evaluation of many ideas from the 1980s and 1990s about possible new hard magnets containing little or no rare earth (or heavy rare earth). Nd–Fe–B magnets have been painstakingly and skillfully optimized for a wide range of applications in which high performance is required at reasonable cost. Sm–Co is the material of choice when high-temperature stability is required, and Sm–Fe–N magnets are making their way into some niche applications. The scope for improvement in these basic materials by substitution has been rather thoroughly explored, and the effects of processing techniques on the…

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