Neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) sintered magnets have excellent magnetic properties such as the remanence, coercive force, and the maximum energy product compared to other hard magnetic materials. The coercive force of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets is improved by the addition of heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium and terbium instead of neodymium. Then, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets increases. However, additional elements have increased the production cost of Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets. Hence, a study on the control of the microstructure of Nd-Fe-B magnets is being conducted. As the coercive force of magnets improves, the grain size of the Nd2Fe14B grain is close to 300 nm because they are nucleation-type magnets. In this study, fine particles of Nd-Fe-B are prepared with various grinding energies in the pulverization process used for preparing sintered magnets, and the microstructure and magnetic properties of the magnets are investigated.

The electromagnetic wave (EM) absorption properties of various particle size have been investigated in a sheet-type absorber using the alloy powder. With decreasing the average particle size, the complex permeability () and permittivity () increased and the matching frequency is shifted toward lower frequency. The fabricated EM wave absorbers showed permeability , permittivity for a mesh sample, and the calculated power absorption was as high as 80% in the frequency range over 2 GHz.

Seasonal changes have been recognized in particle characteristics and forming characteristics of iron powder with insulated coating for a compacted magnetic core because of its high hygroscopicity, due to its phosphate coating and resin binder additives. For this reason, particle characteristics and molding characteristics of the powder with diverse water absorbtivity have been studied. The result shows that the higher the volume of absorbed water, the worse the fluidity becomes, resulting in the reduction in both springback during the molding process and expansion reduction after the heat treatment. The requirement on dimension accuracy for the finished product can be satisfied with an additional drying process on the material powder, which contributes to maintain its water volume constant.