used in manufacturing of hard ferrite magnets. The high coercivity means the materials are very resistant to becoming demagnetized, an essential characteristic for a permanent magnet. They also have high magnetic permeability. These so-called ceramic magnets are cheap, and are widely used in household products such as refrigerator magnets. The maximum magnetic field B is about 0.35 tesla and the magnetic field strength H is about 30 to 160 kiloampere turns per meter (400 to 2000 oersteds). The density of ferrite magnets is about 5 g/cm3. The most common hard ferrites are: Strontium ferrite, SrFe12O19 (SrO·6Fe2O3), used in small electric motors, micro-wave devices, recording media, magneto-optic media, telecommunication and electronic industry. Strontium hexaferrite (SrFe12O19) is well known for its high coercivity due to its magnetocrystalline anisotropy. It has been widely used in industrial applications as permanent magnets and, because they can be powdered and formed easily, they are finding their applications into micro and nano-types systems such as biomarkers, bio diagnostics and biosensors. Barium ferrite, BaFe12O19 (BaO·6Fe2O3), a common material for permanent magnet applications. Barium ferrites are robust ceramics that are generally stable to moisture and corrosion-resistant. They are used in e.g. loudspeaker magnets and as a medium for magnetic recording, e.g. on magnetic stripe cards. Production Ferrites are produced by heating a mixture of the oxides of the constituent metals at high temperatures, as shown in this idealized equation: Fe2O3 + ZnO → ZnFe2O4 In some cases, the mixture of finely-powdered precursors is pressed into a mold. For barium and strontium ferrites, these metals are typically supplied as their carbonates, BaCO3 or SrCO3. During the heating process, these carbonates undergo calcination: MCO3 → MO + CO2 After this step, the two oxides combine to give the ferrite. The resulting mixture of oxides undergoes sintering. Processing Having obtained the ferrite, the cooled product is milled to particles smaller than 2 µm, sufficiently small that each particle consists of a single magnetic domain. Next the powder is pressed into a shape, dried, and re-sintered. The shaping may be performed in an external magnetic field, in order to achieve a preferred orientation of the particles (anisotropy). Small and geometrically easy shapes may be produced with dry pressing. However, in such a process small particles may agglomerate and lead to poorer magnetic properties compared to the wet pressing process. Direct calcination and sintering without re-milling is possible as well but leads to poor