Recent Trends in High-Performance Permanent Magnet Materials and their Applications

High-performance permanent magnets are essential in fields such as industrial machinery, medical equipment, and energy, and demand for them is expected to increase as we move toward carbon neutrality. It is essential to address the issues surrounding the supply of rare earth resources, and there is a need to improve the performance of Nd-Fe-B magnets and develop alternative materials that use less rare earth. In this paper, we review recent trends in the reduction of heavy rare earth elements, optimization of magnet microstructure, evaluation and analysis technology for magnet materials, development of innovative magnet materials, recycling technology for magnet motors, and application fields. Finally, we consider magnet material research’s future direction and role in achieving carbon neutrality.