Soft Magnetic Materials

Soft magnetic materials are those materials that are easily magnetised and demagnetised. They typically have intrinsic coercivity less than 1000 Am^-1. They are used primarily to enhance and/or channel the flux produced by an electric current. The main parameter, often used as a figure of merit for soft magnetic materials, is the relative permeability ( m_r, where m_r = B/m_oH), which is a measure of how readily the material responds to the applied magnetic field. The other main parameters of interest are the coercivity, the saturation magnetisation and the electrical conductivity.