Learn More about Magnetics
Welcome to Magnetics, a manufacturer of soft magnetic cores. This page will help you to learn more about our company and the products we produce.
What are soft magnetic cores?
Magnetic materials can be divided into two classifications: soft and hard (sometimes called permanent). A simple explanation of the difference between the two is that hard/permanent magnets will attract metal objects (i.e. they will stick to a refrigerator door), while soft magnets will not. Magnetics develops soft magnetic materials used to manufacture soft magnetic cores, which are used in a variety of electronic applications.
The more technical explanation below is from our FAQ in answer to the question:
Why are cores not like magnets?
Permanent magnets are considered “hard” magnetic materials because their magnetism is permanently retained, a result that has been achieved by their manufacturing process. Cores are considered “soft” magnetic materials because they are magnetically biased only when wound with current-carrying wire. Hard magnets are fixed at one point on the B-H (or hysteresis) curve. Soft magnetic materials can be cyclically driven along portions of their B-H curves, making them usable for transformers and inductors.
What types of soft magnetic cores does Magnetics offer?
Magnetics® is a manufacturer of three types of soft magnetic cores: powder cores, ferrite cores, and tape wound cores. Each material type has unique attributes and varying applications, but a commonality among the materials is that their primary purpose is power conversion in electronic appliances. A brief overview is provided below . A comparison of powder cores, ferrites and powder iron cores is also available in the Powder Core Materials flash presentation.
Powder Core products are distributed air gap cores that are primarily used in power inductor applications, specifically in switched-mode power supply (SMPS) output filters, also known as DC inductors. Other power applications include differential inductors, boost inductors, buck inductors, and flyback transformers. Notable characteristics of Magnetics’ Powder Core materials are high resistivity, low hysteresis and eddy current losses, and excellent inductance stability under both DC and AC conditions. Magnetics Powder Core products are available in eight materials; Kool Mµ®, Kool Mµ® MAX, Molypermalloy (MPP), High Flux, XFlux®, EdgeTM, Kool Mµ® Hƒ, and 75 Series. These materials range in permeability from 14µ thru 550µ and are available in a variety of shapes including toroids, E cores, U cores, and blocks.
Magnetics soft ferrite cores are an oxide made from Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), and Zinc (Zn) and are commonly referred to as manganese zinc ferrites. They have a low coercivity and are also known as soft magnetic ferrites. Because of their comparatively low losses at high frequencies, they are extensively used in switched-mode power supply (SMPS) and radio frequency (RF) transformers and inductors. Ferrite cores for the high frequency power supply and high quality communication markets are produced in a variety of shapes and sizes for inductors, pulse transformers, high frequency transformers, and noise filters. Notable characteristics of Magnetics’ ferrite materials are high permeability, good temperature properties, and low disaccommodation. Magnetics offers eleven materials which range in permeability from 900µ to 15,000µ and are available in a variety of geometries including toroids, shapes, and pot cores.
Magnetics Tape Wound cores are often key components of complicated electronic circuitry found in high reliability applications including military, aerospace, telecommunications, downhole drilling, and nuclear reactors. Tape Wound and Bobbin cores are made from thin strips of high-permeability nickel-iron alloys such as Orthonol®, Square Permalloy 80, Round Permalloy, Supermalloy, and Alloy 48, or grain oriented silicon iron known as Magnesil®. Specific applications for tape wound cores include magnetic amplifiers (MagAmps), converter and inverter transformers, current transformers, and static magnetic devices.
Why Magnetics?
Magnetics products set the standard for providing consistent and reliable electrical properties for a comprehensive range of core materials and geometries.
Magnetics backs its products with unsurpassed technical expertise and customer service. Magnetics' Application Engineering staff offers the experience necessary to assist the designer from the initial design phase thorugh the prototype approval. Our knowledgable sales representatives are available to help with all your customer service needs. This support, combined with a global presence via a worldwide distribution network, makes Magnetics the premier supplier of soft magnetic cores.
Magnetics® and Spang & Company are strongly committed to operating our business in full compliance with our Code of Ethics.
How do I know which Magnetics soft magnetic core to use?
With Magnetics design tools, you can find the appropriate Magnetics core in a multitude of ways.
- Based on your application, the Selection Guide will direct you to the appropriate soft magnetic material.
- Based on a competitor part number, the Competitor Cross Reference tool will help you to find the corresponding Magnetics part number.
- Based on design parameters, the Design Tools will recommend the optimum Magnetics part number.
- Based on the Magnetics part number you were given, the Datasheet Search will provide parameters for the given part.
- Based on core shape, dimension, or permeability requirements, the Advanced Search feature will guide you to the available Magnetics parts that meet your requirements.
If the design tools are not able to provide the assistance you need, the knowledgeable Magnetics Application Engineering staff will be available to assist you.
What do I need to know to order Magnetics soft magnetic cores?
The first step needed to begin ordering Magnetics soft magnetic cores is to become familiar with the ordering codes for each product line. Information on the ordering codes can be found on the individual product pages.
The next step is to determine if you should place your order directly with Magnetics or with one of our authorized distributors located around the world. By working directly with Magnetics or an authorized distributor, you can ensure that you will be using genuine Magnetics parts. Small quantity orders, orders with special packaging requirements, or the need to work in your native language are all good reasons to consider working with your local authorized distributor.
The final step is to Request a Quote from Magnetics using our online form. A Magnetics Customer Service Representative will contact you shortly after we receive the Quote Request in order to get the process started. If you are already a customer of Magnetics, you can use the MyMagnetics website to check prices and stock as well as place and track orders. You can quickly request a MyMagnetics username and password online.
In preparation for purchasing directly from Magnetics, our Terms and Conditions of Sale are available online for review.