The path to alternative high-performance magnets with low dependence on critical elements

About this presentation

The talk will give a brief overview of the criteria a material has to meet on the nanoscale to be a potential high-performance magnet and how, for example, neodymium-iron-boron and samarium-cobalt magnets meet these criteria. This will be followed by a discussion of some potential candidate magnetic materials which have reduced amounts of critical rare earth and transition metal elements.

Julie Staunton is a professor in the Physics Department at the University of Warwick in the U.K. and heads its Theoretical Physics Group. Her own research interests are in magnetic materials modelling and alloy physics and she leads the PRETAMAG  (Physics of Rare Earth -Transition metAl MAGnets) project where a computational model of magnetic properties is being developed and tested by magnetic measurements. She is also the inaugural Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Modelling of Heterogeneous Systems (HetSyshttp://www.warwick.ac.uk/hetsys) at Warwick which recruits students from across the physical sciences, mathematics and engineering to develop computational materials modelling skills and tackle a wide range of ‘real world’ materials projects.