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Developments in the Processing and Properties of NdFeB-Type

Permanent Magnets

Article  in  Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials · August 2002

DOI: 10.1016/S0304-8853(02)00334-7

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 Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440

Topical review

Developments in the processing and properties of NdFeb-type

permanent magnets
David Brown*, Bao-Min Ma, Zhongmin Chen
Magnequench Technology Center, 9000 Development Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-4827, USA

Received 25 April 2002

Abstract

The composition, microstructure and processing of NdFeB-type permanent magnets are all critical factors for the
successful production of high performance magnet components. Three common fabrication routes can be used to
categorize these NdFeB-based bulk magnets: sintering, polymer bonding and hot deformation. Generally, the former
type of magnet has a high-energy product (30–50 MGOe), full density and a relatively simple shape. Bonded magnets
have intermediate energy products (10–18 MGOe), lower density and can be formed into intricate net-shapes. Hot
deformed magnets possess full density, intermediate to high-energy products (15–46 MGOe), isotropic or anisotropic
properties and have the potential to be formed into net shapes. This article discusses the critical issues of improved
magnetic performance, environmental stability, net-shape formability and magnetization behavior for the main
categories of NdFeB magnets. r 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Isotropic magnets; Anisotropic magnets; Magnet fabrication

1. Introduction years, with the voice-coil-motor (VCM) being the

major application. However, the market is ex-
The production and application of NdFeB
pected to grow into new fields like electric motor
magnets has seen incredible growth in recent
applications in the near future [1]. Table 1 gives a
years, despite fluctuations in the world economy
summary of the wide range of applications for
(e.g. financial downturn of South East Asia in
NdFeB magnets, with many of these being
1998/9). It has been predicted that the total
predicted for substantial growth in the future [2].
NdFeB permanent magnet market will grow from
One promising area is the use of permanent
a current value of 2 to $4.8 billion over the next 5
magnets in automotive applications, particularly
years [1]. This spectacular growth of NdFeB
in control systems. Servo and linear drives also
production has been predominantly due to the
constitute strong growth areas, especially in
rapid growth in the PC market over the last 10
industrial robot-type applications where high
performance, high torque motors are required.
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +919-993-5524; fax: +919-
993-5501. Another strong area of growth has been the huge
E-mail address: dbrown@mqii.com (D. Brown). expansion in the use of mobile phones where

0304-8853/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 0 4 - 8 8 5 3 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 3 3 4 - 7
 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440 433

Table 1 of these impinge on the use of NdFeB magnets.

Examples of applications of permanent magnets [2] Future uses could include their more widespread
Computer and office automation use in ‘‘white goods’’ such as washing machines,
Disk drive spindle motors and voice coil motors refrigerators, etc., in order to improve energy
CD-ROM spindle motors and pick-up motors efficiency and energy conservation. The greatest
Printer and fax stepper motors potential market is with automotive applications,
Printer hammer
Copy machine rollers
where weight reduction, safe operation and
comfort improvements are required.
Automotive The NdFeB magnets required for the developing
Starter motors markets, such as automotive devices, need to
Electric steering operate up to B1801C. Temperature stability is
Sensors
Electric fuel pumps
dependent upon a number of factors for the
Instrumentation gauges various types of NdFeB magnet. For example,
Brushless DC motors fully dense, sintered magnets require significant
Actuators amounts of dysprosium substitution for the
Alternators neodymium [3], which results in a substantial
Consumer electronics
increase in the cost of the magnet, as Dy is much
VCRs and camcorders less plentiful than Nd. In the case of polymer-
Cameras bonded magnets, the particle–particle interaction,
Speakers, headsets amount of binder, magnet density and binder–
Microphones particle interaction are also controlling factors,
Pagers
DVD players
which need to be optimized for successive opera-
Watches tion in potentially aggressive environments. These
Cell phones issues represent just a few of the many scientific/
technological challenges associated with future
Appliance NdFeB magnet development.
Portable power tools
Household appliance motors
Predominant NdFeB magnet manufacturing
Scales routes include melt quenching nanocrystalline
Air conditioners material for use in bonded and hot deformed
Water pumps components, and sintering microcrystalline pow-
Security systems der into high energy, fully dense components.
Factory automation
Each of these techniques has certain strengths and
Magnetic couplings weaknesses in meeting the demands of the
Pumps applications mentioned in Table 1. This article
Motors discusses these and alternative NdFeB magnet
Servo motors fabrication techniques in relation to magnetic
Generators
Bearings
properties, environmental stability, net-shape fab-
rication and magnetization behavior.
Medical
MRI
Surgical tools 2. Types of NdFeB magnet fabrication
Implants
‘‘Therapeutic’’
NdFeB magnets can be categorized by their
microstructure: nanocrystalline and microcrystal-
NdFeB magnets are employed in the isolators of line. Nanocrystalline NdFeB magnets tend to
microwave stations. be produced by melt spinning ribbon with a
Growing concern about global warming has composition close to Nd2Fe14B [4]. This ribbon
scientific and technological implications and many is subsequently crushed into a powder and
434 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440
either polymer bonded into a magnet or hot
deformed into a fully dense magnet. Other
than melt spinning, nanograin material can be
produced via atomization [5], hydrogen–dispro-
portionation–desorption–recombination (HDDR)
[6] and mechanically alloying [7]. Atomization
offers the advantages of high production rate
and uniform spherical particle morphology,
but is limited by the compositional changes
required by the lower quench rate involved.
HDDR has the ability to produce magnetically
anisotropic powder, but is limited by the
thermal stability of the powder. Mechanical
alloying can be employed to produce NdFeB
nanocrystalline and nanocomposite powder,
however, the drawbacks with this technique have
been low yields (B70%) and the reactivity of the
fine powder.
Microcrystalline magnets tend to be sintered to
a fully dense shape using a traditional powder
metallurgy route. The process for producing
sintered magnets tends to start with an ingot
being cast with a relatively high rare-earth
component (Nd, DyB15 at%). This additional
rare-earth limits a-Fe precipitation, and facilitates
the subsequent liquid phase grain boundary
sintering operation. Developments in the casting
technology (e.g. strip casting [8]) have led to faster
cooling rates, more homogeneity and finer scale
microstructures which require less rare-earth
content (Nd+DyB14 at%) and no post-cast
annealing.
Following the casting of NdFeB material for
sintered magnets, it is pulverized with a course
grind and then jet-milled. The resulting powder
has a mean particle size around 5 mm, and can
then be aligned in a magnetic field (B10–20 kOe)
and pressed into a partially dense compact.
Sintering then takes place at elevated temperatures
for several hours (1000–11001C), and is followed
by a post-sinter heat treatment (B6001C) to
refine the grain boundary texture and relieve
internal stresses. Cylindrical, arc and rectan-
gular bars are typical shapes for sintered
components. These shapes require machining
to the desired dimensions and coating with a
protective layer of nickel, zinc, aluminum or
epoxy [9].
3. Common themes of improvement for NdFeB
magnets
There are a number of common themes for
future improvements to both nanocrystalline and
microcrystalline NdFeB permanent magnets.
These include:
* Higher maximum energy product.
* Improved environmental stability and corro-
sion resistance at elevated operating tempera-
tures.
* Near-net-shape manufacture.
* Improved magnetization behavior.
3.1. Higher maximum energy product
If any type of permanent magnetic material has
sufficient coercivity and a uniform microstructure
then there are three factors that affect the
remanence, and hence the (BH)max of the magnets.
These factors and how they are influenced are
detailed below. Factors that affect remanence have
a larger effect on (BH)max, as (BH)max is propor-
tional to the square of the remanence.
(1) The saturation magnetization: This is an
intrinsic property of the magnetic phase and
can only be affected by compositional
changes.
(2) The proportion of magnetic phase: The rema-
nence of a magnet is proportional to the
volume fraction of magnetic phase and can
only be improved by increasing the density of
the magnet and/or decreasing the proportion
of non-magnetic secondary phases or binder.
(3) The degree of crystal alignment for anisotropic
magnets: The maximum remanence of an
anisotropic magnet is proportional to the
cosine of the angle of misalignment averaged
over each grain. Therefore, maximum align-
ment would require the c-axis of each grain to
be orientated in the direction of magnetization
as shown in Fig. 1.
3.1.1. Bonded magnets
In terms of bonded magnets the melt-spun
powder is produced close to the Nd2Fe14B or
 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440 435

Alternative Nanocrystalline Routes Melt Quench Nanocrystalline Route Microcrystalline Powder Metallurgy Route

HDDR or Mechanical Alloying Casting of basic composition from Nd, Fe, Fe2B

Melt spin ribbon or Atomize powder Ingot, strip or atomization casting of micro-structure

Coarse grind ribbon to ~ 100-200µm particles Coarse mill/HD to~100-200µm particles

Jet Mill to ~ 1 to 10µm particles

Annealing to full crytallinity~600°C, few minutes

Blend to correct composition and add molding agent

Blend with binder and lubricant

Align and compact into preform

Compression mold Injection Extrude or calender
magnet mold magnet form magnet

Axial Press Transverse Press Rubber Isostatic Press

Magnetize

Sinter ~ 1100°C, few hours

Isotropic:Br~5-7.1kG, Hci~4.2-16.5kOe(BH)max~5-10MGOe
Heat treat ~ 600°C, few hours
Anisotropic:Br~10kG,Hic~13kOe(BH)max~18MGOe
Compact preform
Slice and machine to shape

Hot Press
Die Upset or Back Extrude into ring Apply protective coating to magnet

Magnetize

Isotropic: Anisotropic:
Anisotropic:
Br ~ 8.3kG, Hci ~ 18kOe BH)max ~ 15MGOe Br~12-13.1kG, Hci~12.5-20kOe (BH)max~32-42 MGOe Br ~ 12-15 kG, Hci ~ 13-27kOe(BH)max ~ 30-50MGOe

Fig. 1. Basic schematic for common magnet production routes.

Nd2Fe14B/a-Fe compositions with small additions change in properties from powder to compression
of elements like cobalt to maximize the saturation molded magnet is: MQPTM-B+ isotropic melt-
magnetization. One would expect the remanence spun powder has a Br B9:0 kG and a
and energy product of a bonded magnet to be (BH)max B16.3 MGOe, and the related magnet
directly linked to the amount of binder used, MQ1TM10–10 has a Br B7:1 kG and an energy
typically 2 wt% in compression molded magnets product of 10 MGOe.
and 8–15 wt% in injection molded magnets. Anisotropic-bonded magnets tend to suffer
However, pore volume and internal magnetic shear from a similar reduction in remanence from the
loss also lead to lower than the expected Br values powder to the magnet (e.g. powder MQATM-T has
[1,10]. Pores reduce the magnet density and hence Br B12 kG and the related magnet MQ1TM 20–13
the Br : They can be limited by particle morphol- has Br B9:5 kG). The alignment of anisotropic
ogy, type of binder and consolidation technique. nanograin material is a challenging operation as
Internal shear loss is the effect caused by isolated large aligning fields (B24 kOe) are required for full
magnetic particles magnetically shearing with alignment [11].
one another within the polymer matrix. The
effect increases with higher levels of polymer 3.1.2. Sintered magnets
and powders with low rare-earth content or For fully dense magnets the most successful
high Br =Hci values. A typical example of the method of improving ðBHÞmax has been to increase
436 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440
the proportion of magnetic Nd2Fe14B phase.
Currently, sintered NdFeB-type magnets are based
on the composition Nd14Fe78B8 (at%), which
contains only B89.4 vol% Nd2Fe14B, giving a
theoretical maximum ðBHÞmax of B52 MGOe, as
compared with B64 MGOe for 100% Nd2Fe14B
material [12]. However, moving towards higher
proportions of Nd2Fe14B causes problems such as:
excessive precipitation of a-Fe during equilibrium-
state casting, the need for greater control over the
liquid phase sintering operation and a heightened
sensitivity to oxidation with less rare-earth phase
at grain boundaries.
Developments to tackle points 1 and 2 above
have included the use of strip cast and atomized
alloy to increase the cooling rate from the melt and
limit the amount of a-Fe precipitation [8,13–15].
These casting techniques have allowed material
with lower rare-earth contents and more homo-
genized microstructures to be produced, such that
post-cast heat treatment and extensive coarse
grinding are no longer required. By limiting the
amount of a-Fe, strip cast alloy also has improved
crushability over conventionally cast alloy, and
hence greater milling throughputs are possible [13].
Further refinements have focused on the align-
ment and pressing of milled powder (issue 3,
above). Conventionally, green compacts for sin-
tered magnets have been aligned and pressed in a
magnetic field, which is either parallel or perpen-
dicular to the axis of pressing. The parallel
pressing technique has the advantage of being
able to produce parts with more near-net shape
(86–88% alignment), while the perpendicular
route produces parts that need more machining
to shape. However, the perpendicular version
yields magnets with higher magnetic properties,
due to a greater degree of Nd2Fe14B grain
alignment (90–93%) [16]. Rubber isostatic press-
ing (RIP) [17] or cold isostatic pressing (CIP) [13]
techniques can produce even higher degrees of
alignment (B98%). CIP has recently been used in
conjunction with strip casting to produce a NdFeB
magnet with the highest recorded energy product
(55.8 MGOe) [13]. Isostatic-type pressing appears
to be in a developmental stage and mass produc-
tion magnets tend to have slightly lower maximum
magnetic properties (B50 MGOe).
One outstanding challenge for sintered magnet
production is limiting the oxidation of powder
particles. With the fine milled particles size (2–
5 mm) and high rare-earth content (B14 at%)
required for sintering, powder handling and
oxygen pick-up are serious drawbacks to the
process. A recent article has observed improve-
ments in remanences (14.1–14.7 kG), density
(7.47–7.52 g/cm3), intrinsic coercivity (up 36%)
and energy product (up 17%) of a magnet
prepared with 0.1 wt% as opposed to one with
0.3 wt% [14].
3.1.3. Hot-pressed melt-spun magnets
Many of the factors mentioned above for
sintered magnets, such as composition and
Nd2Fe14B density apply to hot-pressed and die-
upset nanocrystalline magnets. However, the
alignment mechanism for anisotropic die-upset
magnets is fundamentally different and relies upon
a solution–precipitation–creep mechanism driven
by the axial compression of a material with liquid-
phase grain boundaries [18,19]. The degree to
which the grains elongate and align with one
another is strongly effected by the rare-earth
(typically 13–14 at%), additives to improve hot
workability (like Ga), die lubrication and design,
initial grain size and temperature (700–7501C).
Die-upset shapes and back-extruded tube magnets
with energy products over 46 MGOe (Br B13 kG,
Hci B16 kOe) are commercially available.
3.2. Environmental stability
The environmental stability of a magnet can be
measured by the change in its magnetic properties
over time at a particular temperature. Aging
behavior of a magnet can be determined by the
flux loss over time for a given temperature. The
total flux loss is composed of reversible loss,
recoverable irreversible loss and structural loss.
Flux loss is incurred by a magnetization reversal
mechanism occurring with increased operating
temperature, as illustrated in Fig. 2. On cooling
part of this loss is recoverable (known as reversible
loss, R in Fig. 2), and part is not recovered and is
known as irreversible loss (I in Fig. 2). Irreversible
loss is partly recoverable through remagnetization
 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440 437

and partly permanent due to oxidation. Structural BrðRTÞ and HciðRTÞ are the Br and Hci values at room
losses are related to the presence of the rare-earth temperature, respectively. Typical values for
grain boundary phase and tend to increase bonded and fully dense magnets are presented in
proportionally with the amount of this phase. Table 2.
Recoverable losses (R and I) are inversely propor-
tional to the intrinsic coercivity and tend to 3.2.1. Sintered magnets
increase with lower Hci values. Except for the least demanding of applications,
The irreversible loss can be predicted by sintered NdFeB-type permanent magnets have
temperature coefficients of Br (commonly known been disadvantaged in terms of environment
as a/%1C1) and Hci (known as b/%1C1), as stability, as they contain significant amounts of
defined by the following equations: rare-earth-rich grain boundary phase. Improve-
ments can be made by increasing the Curie
a ¼ ½ðBrðTÞ  BrðRTÞ Þ=ðBrðRTÞ  fT  RTgÞ  100%;
temperature (Tc ) of the magnet (cobalt additions),
b ¼ ½ðHciðTÞ  HciðRTÞ Þ=ðHciðRTÞ  fT  RTgÞ  100%; modifying the magnetic domain configuration
(dysprosium additions) and improving the corro-
where, BrðTÞ and HciðTÞ denote the Br and Hci values
sion stability of the grain boundary phase (Co, Cu
at temperature T measured in degrees Celsius, and
and/or Ga) [14]. Powder oxidation during the
magnet fabrication stage can be a considerable
danger without careful control.
I = Recoverable Irreversible Loss plus
Structural Loss Recent process improvements have achieved
greater chemistry control and improved environ-
R = Reversible Loss mental stability for sintered magnet compositions,
via powder blending techniques [14,20]. One study
Magnetic Moment (arb.units)

120-
I has shown that the hydrogen decrepitated, jet-
milled powder can be very effectively blended with
80-
R metal hydrides or metal powders (e.g. Cu, Co, etc.)
to ‘‘fine tune’’ the composition. This is particularly
40- interesting in the case of DyH2, where it has been
shown that Dy can be concentrated around the
grain boundaries of Nd2Fe14B grains, thus max-
0-
imizing the effect of the Dy additions on the
0 50 100 150 200
coercivity whilst minimizing the negative effect Dy
Aging Temperature / °C has on the remanence and magnet cost.
Fig. 2. Illustration of the flux losses experienced by a NdFeB Protective coatings can improve the corrosion
magnet at elevated temperatures [23]. resistance of magnets. Many different materials

Table 2
Comparison of the fundamental magnetic properties of four commonly used permanent magnets [24]

Material property Bonded MQ1-B Hot pressed MQ2-E Die-upset MQ3-F Sintered VCM

Br (kG) 6.9 8.25 13.1 13.1

ðBHÞmax (MGOe) 10 15 42 42
Hci (kOe) 9 17.5 16 14
a (%/1C) 0.105 0.10 0.09 0.12
b (%/1C) 0.41 0.50 0.60 0.60
Tc (1C) 360 335 370 310
Electrical conductivity Fair Good Good Good
Grinding required? No No No Yes
438 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440
can be used as a barrier coating for NdFeB-
sintered magnets, but the most widely used are
based on Ni for higher value magnetic parts and
zinc for lower cost applications. Using these
compositional and coatings modifications some
grades of sintered magnet (Trade names 32EH,
NMX-27VH) can operate up to 2201C without
irreversible flux loss [16].
3.2.2. Hot-pressed melt-spun magnets
Hot-pressed and die-upset magnets have been
shown to exhibit significantly lower corrosion
rates than sintered magnets. The reduction in
corrosion rate is probably due to smaller grain size
and less amounts of Nd-rich material [21].
3.2.3. Bonded magnets
Bonded magnets have the advantage of each
NdFeB particle being covered in a protective
polymer layer during the magnet compaction
process, and ideally preventing the powder from
coming into contact with humid atmospheres
during operation. This feature has been enhanced
by the development of new binder application
techniques. One successful example is the liquid
coating (LC) technique, which encapsulates the
surface of each magnetic particle with an epoxy-
based polymer and allows higher powder fractions
to be used in the magnet fabrication process [22].
A further advantage of melt-spun powder is its
stability during magnet fabrication, as it can be
handled in air without risk of oxidation.
A simple experiment has been run to compare
the aging loss of a melt-spun material (MQPTM-
B+) with a HDDR (MQATM-T) material. Both
types of powder were blended with 2 wt% epoxy
binder and compression molded to form cylind-
rical magnets with a length to diameter ratio of
approximately 1. All magnets were pulse magne-
tized at 40 kOe. Flux aging loss was determined for
samples held at 1001C, 1251C, 1501C and 1751C
for 1000 h in air. The results are illustrated in
Fig. 2, and show HDDR-prepared material to
have significantly higher flux losses than a
standard melt-spun material. This demonstrates
the reason why HDDR processing has not
received widespread commercial acceptance to-
date. It is also worth noting that MQP-B+materi-
al in epoxy is not an ideal candidate for magnets
that operate above 1251C, and melt-spun powders
with modified chemistries (Nb addition), such as
MQP-O offered more stable aging characteristics
up to 1751C [1].
3.3. Net-shape manufacture
Fully dense NdFeB-type materials are extremely
brittle at room temperature and hence machining
such fully dense magnets can be an expensive and
laborious operation. As a result one important
goal for magnet manufacturers is to develop net-
shape forming processes to avoid or minimize
machining costs.
Bonded magnets possess a high degree of net-
shape formability as such materials can be
processed at relatively low temperatures (170–
3001C) depending on the binder and molding
technique being used.
Hot-pressed nanocrystalline magnets also
achieve a high level of net shape, with the
advantage of full density (MQ2) and anisotropy
(MQ3, die upset or backward-extruded parts). The
drawbacks tend to be the additional cost of further
process stages and the elevated temperatures (700–
8001C) required. However, the hot deformation
technique is the most straightforward method for
producing fully dense, high-energy product net-
shaped magnets.
Sintering is fundamentally limited in its ability
to produce net-shape components as the green
compacts can lose up to 25% in volume through
shrinkage during the sintering treatment. Net-
shape capability could be achieved by applying a
pressure during the sintering stage, similar to the
MQ3 process, only with longer times and higher
temperatures. Isostatic powder consolidation tech-
niques can go some way to improving green
compact density and hence reducing shrinkage
during sintering, although a degree of surface
machining is still required (Fig. 3).
3.4. Improved magnetization behavior
The assembly of high BHmax and Hci permanent
magnet devices is a complex procedure, particu-
larly with the drive for miniaturization of many
 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440 439

devices. Post-assembly magnetization is one pre-
ferred technique for applications, although a less
effective magnetization field can be applied when
the magnets are in situ. Hence, the magnetization
behavior of magnets is an important factor for
many applications, and the lower the applied field
that is required for saturation is an advantage.
Fig. 4 is a schematic comparison of the magnetiza-
tion behavior of two types of sintered NdFeB-type
magnet and three types of bonded NdFeB-type
magnet [1,25]. For comparison, hot-pressed and
die-upset magnets tend to require magnetizing
Fig. 3. Comparison of the aging behavior of melt-spun and
HDDR processed bonded magnet.
fields of 45 and 35 kOe for full saturation,
respectively.
Isotropic bonded magnets appear to need higher
magnetizing fields than the sintered magnets
shown in Fig. 4, due to differences in the magnetic
mechanisms. The high coercivity (Hci B15 kOe)
MQ1TM-A magnet requires an applied field of
20 kOe to achieve 65% of the Br value, while the
lower coercivity (10 kOe) MQ1TM-B magnet
achieves 85% saturation with a similar applied
field. The development of Nd2Fe14B/a-Fe and
Nd2Fe14B/Fe3B nanocomposite materials with
lower coercivities has allowed higher saturation
of bonded magnets with lower magnetizing fields.
For example, MQ1TM-Q (Hci B4.2 kOe) bonded
magnets can achieve 75% of the Br value with a
12.5 kOe applied field. Improving the magnetizing
behavior of bonded magnets remains one of the
challenges for future permanent magnet research
and development.
Sintered magnets exhibit a greater ability for
magnetization, as illustrated in Fig. 4. Research
has shown that by increasing the Dy content of the
rare-earth component in the composition, even
lower fields can be used to saturate sintered
magnets. Fig. 4 shows how a 9 wt% Dy addition
to a Nd–Fe–Co–Cu–B material can bring the
required magnetizing field for full Br saturation
down from 20 to 10 kOe. Dysprosium and terbium
have the additional benefit of improving the

100 Sintered
(Nd,Dy)FeCoCuB magnet
90 Sintered
NdFeCoCuB magnet
80
% Saturation of Flux

70
60
MQ1-B
50
MQ1-A
40
MQ1-Q
30
20 Sintered no Dy
Sintered 9wt.% Dy
10 MQ1-A
MQ1-B
MQ1-Q
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Magnetizing field / kOe
Fig. 4. Comparison of magnetization field required for saturation [1,25].
440 D. Brown et al. / Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 248 (2002) 432–440
temperature stability for magnets. However, Dy
and Tb are expensive additives and have the affect
of lowering the remanence. Future research in this
area may focus on reducing the amount of Dy
required or developing an alternative.
4. Summary
The principle types of NdFeB magnets have
been discussed in terms of their fabrication
techniques and operating characteristics. Impor-
tant concerns of magnet producers and users, like
magnetic performance, environmental stability,
net-shape manufacture and the magnetization
behavior have been addressed.
Bonded and fully dense magnets have their own
advantages and drawbacks. If isotropic properties,
net-shape formability and low cost are required,
then a bonded magnet will be selected. On the
other hand, if a high remanence, anisotropic,
regular-shaped magnet is required in large volume
then a sintered magnet route should be selected. If
net-shape formability, powder stability, together
with high remanence is required, then a hot-
pressed (isotropic MQ2TM) or die-upset (aniso-
tropic MQ3TM) magnet would be suitable.
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