What types of magnets are there?

Both the Neodymium Iron Boron and the Samarium Cobalt magnets are generally known as rare earth magnets since their compounds come from the rare earth or Lanthanide series of the periodic table of the elements. They were developed in the 1970's and 1980's. As can be seen in the table, these are the strongest of the permanent magnets, and are difficult to demagnetize. However, the Tmax for NdFeB is the lowest.

Alnico is made of a compound of aluminum, nickel and cobalt. Alnico magnets were first developed in the 1940's. As can be seen in the table, this magnet is least affected by temperature, but is easily demagnetized. This is the reason why bar magnets and horseshoe magnets made of alnico will easily become demagnetized by other magnets, by dropping it, and by not storing it with a keeper. Its Tmax, though, is the highest.

Ceramic or Ferrite magnets are the most popular types of magnets available today. The flexible magnets we use are a type of ceramic magnet, with the magnetic powders fixed in a flexible binder. These were first developed in the 1960's. This is a fairly strong magnet, not as easy to demagnetize as alnico, but its magnetic strength will vary the most as its temperature changes.

Tags: neodymium magnets magnets,permanent magnet,Samarium Cobalt (SmCo),Ceramic or Ferrite,Neodymium Iron Boron Smco magnets