Record-breaking magnet made from two rare earths could drive many technologies forward
Reports on China’s export controls for rare earths are coming thick and fast, and now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have invented a super-magnet from these raw materials that outperforms all previous permanent magnets. This demonstrates the critical importance of rare earths not only for the growth markets of energy supply, transportation, and defense industries, but also for materials science as their foundation.
Three times stronger than the strongest magnets currently available
Magnets are almost literally the linchpin for the use of rare earths. They power our electric vehicles and are used in both wind turbines and high-tech data storage systems. All the more groundbreaking is the researchers’ power magnet, which has a coercive field strength of 25 tesla—meaning very high resistance to demagnetization. The strongest permanent magnets to date made with neodymium oxide reach a maximum of 7.5 tesla. According to the journal Science, the magnet also has a magnetic field three times stronger than that of the previously strongest magnetic material.
A completely new class of material with two rare earths
According to the researchers, the magnetic material is an entirely new class of substance, consisting of two atoms of a rare-earth element such as dysprosium oxide or terbium oxide. Between them are three iodine atoms arranged in a triangle. The molecule’s exceptionally high magnetism is due to many unpaired electrons that, because of the atoms’ arrangement, cannot be neutralized by their partner electrons.
Strong magnets are indispensable for technological progress
Such improved magnets could elevate numerous technologies to the next level. More powerful electric motors not only enable faster electric vehicles but can also advance the electrification of buses and trucks—areas where battery-powered vehicles still have ground to make up. In China, there is already a maglev train, a 600-kilometer-per-hour train connecting two cities. Such technologies would be easier to implement with stronger magnets—and feasible domestically as well, given appropriate raw material stockpiling. And nuclear fusion, potentially our green energy supply of the future, also relies on strong, demagnetization-resistant permanent magnets (as we reported).
Will China’s controls slow down our technological development?
We would have to forgo all of these advanced technologies if we run out of rare earths. With export controls on rare earths taking effect from October 1 (as we reported), China effectively has the ability to cut us off from technological progress. The only way to prevent this is to fill our raw-material stockpiles now. For investors, the golden hour is striking: the markets have not yet priced in China’s export controls, meaning that rare earths such as neodymium oxide can still be purchased very cheaply at the moment.