Barium Ferrite Disc Magnet: Barium Carbonate and Iron Oxide Sintered (Went, Philips 1956)

The dark grey ceramic magnet on fridges and in loudspeakers is barium ferrite. It is made from two cheap powders: one part barium carbonate to six of iron oxide, milled, fired, milled again, pressed and sintered. No cobalt or nickel is needed. This is Example 34 of the Philips patent. Fired 4 hours at 1100 °C, its rod held 1,375 gauss with a coercive force of 3,350 oersted. Source: J. J. Went, G. W. van Oosterhout and E. W. Gorter (Philips), US 2,762,777 (1956). They pressed rods; the claim covers "a body of a desired shape", and the disc size is ours. The patent does not say how to magnetise it; our way is stated. Picture: ferrite magnets, Omegatron, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.