Anisometric mesoscale nuclear and magnetic texture in sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets

Nd-Fe-B magnets are an important class of functional materials which find widespread technological application. Neutron scattering experiments suggest the presence of an anisometric mesoscale structure in textured Nd-Fe-B magnets. Comparison of the neutron data to a microstructural model based on the superquadric form factor allows the estimation of the shape and of lower bounds for the size of the structure, the origin of which remains unknown. It is a challenge for future research to find out whether the anisotropic scattering pattern is due to some arrangement of preferentially oriented particles or due to larger-scale structural or compositional inhomogeneities.