Advanced Magnetic Alloys

Dear Colleagues,

Magnetic alloys are a huge and significant family of functional materials that have become indispensable in our daily lives. They are combinations of different metals that contain but are not limited to, at least one of the three main magnetic elements: iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), etc.

This Topic was inspired by the growing research interest in magnetism and magnetic alloys, the discoveries of novel magnetic alloys, and recent progress in the development of functional materials with improved magnetic and magnetic-related properties. Progress in industrial fields, such as data storage, magnetic sensing, vehicles, energy, and so on, are greatly associated with the development of advanced magnetic alloys. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the processing–structure–property relationship in fabricated magnetic alloys is of critical importance. Consequently, great efforts have been (and are being) focused on systematic theoretical and experimental studies with the overall aim of advancing our current knowledge of the origins of the material properties related to the existence of some special arrangements at the nanometric scale and/or to the provision of novel, unusual macroscopic properties.

This Topic aims to provide the most up-to-date information about recent developments in magnetic alloys (both bulk and thin film) for advanced technologies. It covers a wide range of experimental and theoretical works highlighting the following main topics:

• Magnetic materials and sensor application;
• Permanent magnets;
• Magnetocaloric materials and magnetic refrigeration;
• Spintronic materials and devices;
• Material microstructure analysis;
• Heusler alloys;
• Magnetic shape alloys and related applications;
• Amorphous and nanocrystalline magnetic materials and applications.

We hope this issue will stimulate further interest in magnetic materials research.

Dr. Jiamin Chen
Prof. Dr. Xiandong Xu
Topic Editors