Magnetic ceramics, oxide materials that exhibit a certain type of permanent magnetization called ferrimagnetism. Commercially prepared magnetic ceramics are used in a variety of permanent magnet, transformer, telecommunications, and information recording applications. This article describes the composition and properties of the principal magnetic ceramic materials and surveys their main commercial applications.

Ferrites: composition, structure, and properties
Magnetic ceramics are made of ferrites, which are crystalline minerals composed of iron oxide in combination with some other metal. They are given the general chemical formula M(FexOy), M representing other metallic elements than iron. The most familiar ferrite is magnetite, a naturally occurring ferrous ferrite (Fe[Fe2O4], or Fe3O4) commonly known as lodestone. The magnetic properties of magnetite have been exploited in compasses since ancient times.

The magnetic behaviour exhibited by the ferrites is called ferrimagnetism; it is quite different from the magnetization (called ferromagnetism) that is exhibited by metallic materials such as iron. In ferromagnetism there is only one kind of lattice site, and unpaired electron “spins” (the motions of electrons that cause a magnetic field) line up in one direction within a given domain.