Neodymium · element 60
The new twin that became the strongest magnet in your pocket, your headphones and the wind turbine on the hill
Key facts
Neodymium is the reason a magnet the size of a fingernail can hold up a spanner. Alloyed with iron and boron, it forms the most powerful permanent magnets ever made, and they are everywhere: inside phone speakers, headphones and hard drives, and, in far larger quantities, in the motors of electric cars and the generators atop wind turbines.
It is also a colour. Neodymium ions tint glass a soft lilac that shifts to blue under fluorescent light and to pink under sunlight, and they produce the intense infrared beam of the Nd:YAG laser used in eye surgery and industrial cutting. For a metal that was only pulled apart from its twin in 1885, it has become central to modern technology.
Where it is found
Neodymium is a few times more abundant in the crust than lead, though it never concentrates into pure ores. It is present in bastnäsite and monazite at typically 10 to 20 per cent of the rare earth content, and in ion-adsorption clays.
China produces the large majority of the world's neodymium and dominates the manufacture of the magnets made from it. Mines in Australia, the United States and Myanmar supply ore, and new projects in several countries aim to broaden supply because neodymium is on almost every list of critical materials for the energy transition.
How it was discovered
Neodymium's story begins with didymium, the supposed element Carl Gustaf Mosander separated from lanthanum in 1841. In 1885 Carl Auer von Welsbach in Vienna resolved didymium into two elements by patiently fractionally crystallising its salts over many months and watching the colours and spectra diverge. The pink-salted one he called neodymium, meaning new twin.
Pure neodymium metal was not available until the mid twentieth century, when ion-exchange separation methods developed for the atomic energy programme made individual rare earths obtainable in quantity. The magnet that made neodymium famous came later still: in 1984 teams at Sumitomo Special Metals in Japan and General Motors in the United States independently announced neodymium-iron-boron magnets.
What we use it for
Magnets dominate. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets store several times more magnetic energy per volume than the ferrite magnets on a fridge door, so motors and generators built with them can be smaller and lighter. An electric car motor may contain a kilogram or more of neodymium, and a large direct-drive wind turbine generator can contain hundreds of kilograms. Consumer electronics use tiny amounts each, but in enormous numbers.
Neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet, Nd:YAG, is one of the most widely used solid-state laser materials, emitting at 1064 nanometres. It is used in ophthalmology, dermatology, tattoo removal, laser cutting and welding, and range-finding. Neodymium glass amplifies the beams of the world's largest laser fusion facilities. Geologists use the decay of samarium-147 to neodymium-143 to date rocks and trace the origins of ancient continental crust.
Reading the numbers
Neodymium melts at about 1024 °C and boils at about 3074 °C. It is the highest melting of the four lanthanides from lanthanum to neodymium, following a gentle upward trend along the row. Its density of 7.01 grams per cubic centimetre is a little below iron and about seven times that of water.
The configuration [Xe] 4f4 6s2 places four electrons in the 4f subshell. These electrons carry unpaired spins, which is where neodymium's magnetism ultimately comes from. In the metal alone they do not line up at room temperature, but in the Nd2Fe14B crystal structure they lock the iron atoms' magnetism into a fixed direction, resisting any attempt to flip it. The 4f electrons also absorb light at sharp wavelengths, giving the lilac colour and the laser transitions. Its electronegativity of 1.14 and first ionisation energy of 533 kilojoules per mole are typical of a reactive lanthanide that forms Nd3+ ions.
Safety and the environment
Neodymium metal and its compounds are of low to moderate toxicity, and everyday exposure is negligible. The real hazards are physical. Large neodymium magnets snap together with enough force to shatter, sending sharp fragments flying, and to crush fingers caught between them. Small magnets swallowed by children can pinch intestinal walls together and cause life-threatening injury, which is why several countries restrict their sale in toys and desk sets.
Mining and refining neodymium carry the environmental costs common to rare earths, and the concentration of production in one region raises concerns about supply. Recovering neodymium from old hard drives, motors and speakers is technically feasible and increasingly practised, and researchers are working on magnets that need less of it.
Did you know?
- Neodymium-iron-boron magnets, invented in 1984, are the strongest type of permanent magnet commercially available.
- A single large wind turbine generator can contain several hundred kilograms of neodymium in its magnets.
- Neodymium glass appears lilac in daylight but bluish under fluorescent lighting, because the ions absorb a narrow band of yellow light.
- The Nd:YAG laser, doped with neodymium, is used for everything from eye surgery to cutting steel.
- Neodymium is more common in the Earth's crust than lead, despite being classed as a rare earth.
- Geologists use the slow radioactive decay of samarium into neodymium to date rocks billions of years old.
More in the lanthanides
The nearest neighbours of neodymium in the family, by atomic number.
See all 15 lanthanides on one page, or browse all 118 elements.
Compare Neodymium with another element
Each comparison has a side-by-side data table and a plain-English summary of the differences.
Frequently asked questions
Why are neodymium magnets so strong?
In the compound Nd2Fe14B, neodymium's unpaired 4f electrons lock the magnetism of the iron atoms into one direction and make it very hard to flip. The crystal packs a large amount of magnetic energy into a small volume, several times more than a ferrite magnet, so a small piece can lift a surprisingly heavy load.
Are neodymium magnets dangerous?
They can be. Large ones slam together hard enough to break bones and shatter into sharp fragments, and two small magnets swallowed by a child can trap a loop of intestine between them, which is a medical emergency. They also wipe magnetic cards and can disturb pacemakers, so they should be kept away from both.
Is neodymium rare?
Not in terms of quantity; it is more abundant in the crust than lead. It counts as a rare earth because it occurs only mixed with the other lanthanides in minerals such as bastnäsite and monazite, and separating it is slow and expensive. Supply is also concentrated in a small number of countries.
What is neodymium used for besides magnets?
Neodymium is the active ingredient in Nd:YAG lasers used in surgery, tattoo removal and metal cutting, and in the glass amplifiers of large fusion research lasers. It tints glass lilac, appears in welding goggles, strengthens magnesium alloys, and its isotopes are used to date ancient rocks.
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Written by Anthony. Updated September 2026. Numerical data from Periodic-Table-JSON (CC BY-SA), cross-checked against the Neodymium reference article. Spotted an error? Tell us.