Editing Coercivity (section)

==Significance==
As with any [[hysteresis|hysteretic]] process, the area inside the magnetization curve during one cycle represents the [[work (thermodynamics)|work]] that is performed on the material by the external field in reversing the magnetization, and is dissipated as heat. Common dissipative processes in magnetic materials include [[magnetostriction]] and domain wall motion. The coercivity is a measure of the degree of magnetic hysteresis and therefore characterizes the lossiness of soft magnetic materials for their common applications.

The saturation remanence and coercivity are figures of merit for hard magnets, although [[maximum energy product]] is also commonly quoted. The 1980s saw the development of [[rare-earth magnet]]s with high energy products but undesirably low [[Curie temperature]]s. Since the 1990s new [[exchange spring magnet|exchange spring]] hard magnets with high coercivities have been developed.<ref>{{harvnb|Kneller|Hawig|1991}}</ref>