Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 February 2013
The 20th century saw rapid and dramatic improvements in permanent magnet materials. It has been 31 years since the discovery of neodymium-iron-boron and numerous companies and laboratories are seeking to produce a new and superior material. Topics discussed herein are material options, economics of selected materials and market drivers in material selection. Market issues include manufacturability by shape, size, and material yield; raw material supply including cost and dependability of the supply chain; raw material and magnet product price stability; development of applications based on commercial needs, government legislation and consumer demand. “Need is the mother of invention” and no discussion would be complete without covering why a new material would be beneficial from an applications point of view especially in energy production and consumption. Therefore, an introduction will be provided for select, major applications using permanent magnets and the growth forecasts for these.