NEO Magnets

Neo magnets are one of the strongest rare earth magnets. They are very popular too because they come for a fraction of the price of other rare earth magnets which are much less powerful. They have a tetragonal crystalline composition which makes them a permanent and highly durable metal. It consists of Iron, Neodymium and boron.

These rare earth magnets were invented in the year 1982 by General Motors and Sumitomo Special Metals, and today they are one of the strongest and affordable types of rare earth magnets. These magnets have gained so much of popularity in the recent years due to its compact structure and the properties which makes it strong, durable and cost effective too.

Due to these properties, it has replaced other types of magnets from the common household items such as motors, hard disk drives, magnetic fasteners etc.

Properties of Neo magnets

Neo magnets have become so popular due to its properties and also due to their very affordable costs. One of the most important properties of these magnets is its Coercivity. The high magneto crystalline structure makes it so much coercive.

They also have a very high resistance against demagnification. This is the reason because of which these magnets are widely used in industries nowadays. Apart from Coercivity, Remanence is also very crucial property of Neo magnets.  Due to this property, the metal has excellent field strength and is able to attract iron or another magnetic piece strongly from quite a distance.

Like every other magnet, Neo magnets also have a curie temperature in which it loses its magnetic properties. Care should be taken while handling this magnet in high temperature fields as they could catch fire. These magnets are excellent in strength too.

In terms of strength, these magnets are one of the best magnets found in the market. All these properties make this magnet suitable for use in different appliances replacing any other type of magnets.

Applications of Neo magnets


Due to the yet unbeatable properties of these magnets, they have replaced alnico and ferrite magnets. They have also replaced other magnets from different instruments such as computer hard drives, guitars, audio speakers, motors, CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, digital cameras, watches etc.

These magnets come in different sizes and shapes. The flexibility in size and shape makes it perfect for use in different appliances according to the requirement. These magnets have become so popular that major car manufacturing companies are also trying to implement these magnets instead of using other magnets.

In short, Neo magnets are becoming very popular and it’s not too far when Neo magnets would replace all other types of magnets.

NDFEB Magnets

The history of NDFEB magnets

    NDFEB magnets are the most powerful and widely used forms of rare earth magnets. They are made from an alloy consisting of Nickel, iron and Cobalt. They undergo a number of preparatory processes before the final magnet is available to sell in the market.

The motive behind the development of the NDFEB magnets was to find a strong rare earth magnet with properties better than the existing magnetic materials. The companies responsible for the development of the NDFEB were General Motors and another Sumotomo Company. The primary cause for concern was that the materials required for making Samarium Cobalt rare earth magnets were very expensive.

The thrust was towards finding a new material capable of replacing the need for samarium cobalt.
The two companies went about to produce different forms of NDFEB magnets. General Motors developed nanocrystalline NDFEB while Sumitomo Corp.

Developed sintered NDFEB magnets. Sintered NDFEB magnets are a bit susceptible to corrosion.

How are NDFEB magnets manufactured?

    There are primarily two techniques for manufacturing NDFEB magnets, each producing a different type of a magnet.

Let us look at the two processes in detail:
Sintered magnet process: This process was developed by the Sumitomo corp.  The process involves an ingot being pulverized. Magnetically aligned particles are then sintered in the liquid phase and then are given their desired shape in this process.

China and Japan are the primary producers and exporters of sintered NDFEB magnets.

Bonded magnet process:  This method was initially developed by the General Motors and Company of the United States. It involves a method called melt spinning. Melt spinning of a thin ribbon of NDFEB is required.

The method includes pulverization of the ribbon and compression moulding applied to mould it into any desired shape. The NDFEB magnet produced is nanoctystalline.

The bonded magnets may not be as strong as the sintered form, but it is easier to get mould them into desired shapes and do not have eddy current losses. America is the primary producer of bonded NDFEB magnets.

NDFEB magnets, applications and hazards

    NDFEB magnets have widespread applications due to their very high coercivity and anisotropy.
The high power of NDFEB magnets make them ideal for a lot of applications.
Some popular applications of the magnets include loudspeakers, headphones, microphones, magnetic resonance imaging, hard drives, motors, jewellery, toys, etc.

However, being extremely powerful, there are some hazards with NDFEB magnets not seen with traditional magnets.
Large pieces of NDFEB magnets are so powerfully attractive that they may cause injury.

Also, NDFEB magnets can harm data on hard drives, compact disks, credit cards etc if they are brought too close to them.