Samarium Cobalt vs. Neodymium Iron Boron

Deciding what material to use in your application can be challenging, especially when it comes to permanent magnet materials such as samarium cobalt and neodymium iron boron.

Determining whether or not to use Neo magnets instead of SmCo magnets in your high performance application is a function of:

  • Maximum temperature of the application
  • Required magnetic output at typical use temperature, and
  • Total cost of the system.

Advantages of Samarium Cobalt:

  • When compared to Neo, SmCo offers unique capabilities such as higher energy density at elevated temperatures.
  • Maximum operating temperature for samarium cobalt is more than 2x neodymium iron boron.
  • SmCo flux output varies much less with respect to temperature, meaning the device performance can truly be optimized.

ENERGY PRODUCT AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE

The chart below illustrates the energy product of SmCo vs. Neo.

NdFeB Envelope Graph