In this work, we use laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) to produce Nd–Fe–B magnets. A suitable process window is developed, which allows to fabricate isotropic samples with outstanding magnetic performance. The sample quality is mainly defined by the energy input during LPBF and sintering or delamination occurs, if the process parameter are improperly adjusted. Magnetic and structural properties become better as energy input increases, until the material-specific limit for processability has been reached. Magnets with coercivity of 886 kA/m (µ₀H_c = 1.1 T) and maximum energy product of 63 kJ/m³ can be produced from Nd-lean commercial powder without any post treatment. Thereby, our samples represent the new benchmark for permanent magnets produced by additive manufacturing. On the example of coercivity, the impact of laser power, scan velocity and hatch spacing is discussed. It is shown that coercivity can be sufficiently well described by a simple phenomenological model.

The impact of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) on coercivity of Nd-lean commercial MQP™-S powder is investigated. It is found that different processing parameters, such as laser power, scan velocity, and hatch spacing, have a remarkable impact on the magnetic performance of LPBF-processed Nd–Fe–B permanent magnets. The increase of energy input during manufacturing will also increase coercivity and a maximum value of 920 kA/m ( $\mu _{0}H_{c} =1.15$ T) was achieved without any further post-processing. Among other parameters, hatch spacing was identified as the major contribution to coercivity and its role is discussed on basis of the several re-melting events if hatch spacing becomes increasingly smaller than the laser focus diameter. The maximum coercivity is obtained, for hatch spacing of 35 $\mu \text{m}$ and laser focus diameter of 110 $\mu \text{m}$ , which led to a threefold re-melting of the sample.