page_title: Neodymium
section_title: Magnets
hierarchical_section_title: Neodymium / Applications / Magnets
caption_attribution_description: English: Neodymium magnet on a bracket from a computer hard drive.
context_page_description: Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. Neodymium belongs to the lanthanide series and is a rare-earth element. It is a hard, slightly malleable silvery metal that quickly tarnishes in air and moisture. When oxidized, neodymium reacts quickly to produce pink, purple/blue and yellow compounds in the +2, +3 and +4 oxidation states. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. It is present in significant quantities in the ore minerals monazite and bastnäsite. Neodymium is not found naturally in metallic form or unmixed with other lanthanides, and it is usually refined for general use. Although neodymium is classed as a rare-earth element, it is fairly common, no rarer than cobalt, nickel, or copper, and is widely distributed in the Earth's crust. Most of the world's commercial neodymium is mined in China.
  Neodymium compounds were first commercially used as glass dyes in 1927, and they remain a popular additive in glasses.
context_section_description: Neodymium magnets (actually an alloy, Nd₂Fe₁₄B) are the strongest permanent magnets known. A neodymium magnet of a few grams can lift a thousand times its own weight. These magnets are cheaper, lighter, and stronger than samarium–cobalt magnets. However, they are not superior in every aspect, as neodymium-based magnets lose their magnetism at lower temperatures and tend to corrode, while samarium–cobalt magnets do not.
  Neodymium magnets appear in products such as microphones, professional loudspeakers, in-ear headphones, guitar and bass guitar pick-ups, and computer hard disks where low mass, small volume, or strong magnetic fields are required. Neodymium is used in the electric motors of hybrid and electric automobiles and in the electricity generators of some designs of commercial wind turbines (only wind turbines with "permanent magnet" generators use neodymium). For example, drive electric motors of each Toyota Prius require one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of neodymium per vehicle.
  In 2020, physics researchers at Radboud University and Uppsala University announced they had observed a behavior known as "self-induced spin glass" in the atomic structure of neodymium.  One of the researchers explained, "…we are specialists in scanning tunneling microscopy. It allows us to see the structure of individual atoms, and we can resolve the north and south poles of the atoms. With this advancement in high-precision imaging, we were able to discover the behavior in neodymium, because we could resolve the incredibly small changes in the magnetic structure."  Neodymium behaves in a complex magnetic way that had not been seen before in a periodic table element.
caption: Neodymium magnet on a mu-metal bracket from a hard drive
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