Gareth Hatch said..."Interesting" announcement from Toshiba,...

Gareth Hatch said...
"Interesting" announcement from Toshiba, considering that standard samarium-cobalt (Sm-Co) magnets already do better at higher temperatures than neodymium-based (Nd-based) magnets, and are already used in such applications. They've been around for well over 40 years, pre-dating Nd-based magnets. The output of Sm-Co magnets is inferior, however, at lower temperatures, and in time the Co cost will dominate material selection. It was the cost of Co that provided the impetus for the work that led to the eventual discovery of iron-based rare-earth magnets (using Nd).

http://www.raremetalblog.com/2012/08/toshiba-samarium-magnet-holds-rare-earth-promise-for-arafura-lynas.html