Fe–Nd–B-based hard magnets from bulk amorphous precursor

The glass forming ability of the (Nd,Fe,B)96Nb4 system has been studied and the best glass former is Fe65.28B24Nd6.72Nb4, with a critical diameter of 4 mm. After subsequent crystallization, the Fe64.32B22.08Nd9.6Nb4 alloy with a uniformly distributed Nd2Fe14B phase shows typical characteristics of a hard magnet with a coercivity of 1100 kA m−1 and an energy product of 33 kJ m−3. The combination of hard magnetic properties and the large critical sample size may make Fe–Nd–B–Nb a commercially viable candidate for industrial applications.