Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 294 (2005) 252–266 Round table discussion: Present and future applications of nanocrystalline magnetic materials G. Herzer a,Ã , M. Vazquez b , M. Knobel c , A. Zhukov d , T. Reininger e , H.A. Davies f , R. Gro¨ssinger g , J.L. Sanchez Ll. h a VACUUMSCHMELZE GmbH & Co. KG , Gru¨ner Weg 37, D-63450 Hanau, Germany b Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales, CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain c Instituto de Fı´sica ‘Gleb Wataghin’, UNICAMP, Campinas 13.083-970, Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil d Dpto. Fı´sica de Materiales, Fac. Quimicas, Universidad del Pais Vasco, 20009 San Sebastian, Spain e Festo AG & Co. KG, Ruiter Strasse 82, 73724 Esslingen, Germany f Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Mappin St., Sheffield S1 3JD, UK g Inst. f. Festko¨rperphysik, Techn. Univ. Wien, Wiedner Hauptstr. 8-10, A-1040 Vienna, Austria h Facultad de Fisica-IMRE, Universidad de La Habana, San Lazaro y L, La Habana 10400, Cuba Available online 11 May 2005 Abstract Examples of existing or potential applications of nanocrystalline magnetic materials, ranging from soft to hard magnetic alloys, are presented and discussed by experts in the respective fields of research and technology. r 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 75.50.Tt; 85.70.w Keywords: Nanocrystalline materials; Magnetic devices 1. Introduction Nanocrystalline ferromagnetic materials offer a new possibilities for tailoring advantageously a variety of phenomena including soft, hard and superparamagnetic behaviour. The detailed prop- erties depend upon the interaction mechanism and on the ratio between structural and magnetic correlation lengths. The objective of the Round Table Discussion was to identify the properties that are important for applications and to discuss why some nano- crystalline materials have been successfully exploited while others have not, at least not yet. For the latter, the question accordingly was: What ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/jmmm 0304-8853/$-see front matter r 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jmmm.2005.03.042 Ã Corresponding author. Fax: +4961813883002. E-mail addresses: Giselher.Herzer@vacuumschmelze.com (G. Herzer), mvazquez@icmm.csic.es (M. Vazquez), knobel@ ifi.unicamp.br (M. Knobel), wupzhuka@sc.ehu.es (A. Zhukov), drn@festo.de (T. Reininger), h.a.davies@sheffield.ac.uk (H.A. Davies), roland.groessinger@ifp.tuwien.ac.at (R. Gro¨ssinger), sanchez@fisica.uh.cu (J.L. Sanchez Ll.).