Microstructural investigation of Nd-Fe-B with the scanning tunneling microscope

Abstract
The first investigation of rapidly quenched Nd-Fe-B permanent magnet material with the scanning tunneling microscope revealed that Nd-Fe-B has a faceted spheroidal grain structure with a grain size of 200 Å. Barrier height measurements indicate that the grains are often either of slightly different chemical compositions or more likely of different crystallographic orientation.