The magnetic composite material of the embodiments is a magnetic composite material that includes a magnetic material having a plane at the surface; and a plate-shaped reinforcing material, the magnetic material having a plurality of magnetic bodies having a planar structure and having a magnetic metal phase containing at least one first element selected from the group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni), and principal surfaces; and an intercalated phase containing at least one second element selected from the group consisting of oxygen (O), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and fluorine (F). In the magnetic composite material, the principal surfaces are oriented to be approximately parallel to the plane and have the difference in coercivity on the basis of direction within the plane.

A magnetic device comprising a T-shaped magnetic core made of a material comprising a soft magnetic metal material and having a base and a pillar integrally formed with the base; a coil wound on the pillar; and a unitary magnetic body encapsulating the pillar, the coil and a portion of the base with a bottom surface of the base being not covered by the unitary magnetic body, wherein a contiguous portion of the unitary magnetic body encapsulates a top surface of the pillar and extends into a gap between a side surface of the pillar and an inner surface of the coil, wherein the core loss P.sub.BL (mW/cm.sup.3) of the unitary magnetic body satisfies: 2?f.sup.1.29?Bm.sup.2.2?P.sub.BL?14.03?f.sup.1.29?B.sub.m.sup.1.08, where f(kHz) represents a frequency of a magnetic field applied to the T-shaped magnetic core, and B.sub.m (kGauss) represents the operating magnetic flux density of the magnetic field at the frequency.

A soft magnetic powder according to the present disclosure comprises a particle having no hollow part as a main component, wherein a number of hollow particle present in a region of 2.5 mm square is 40 or less in a cross section of a molded body obtained by powder-compacting and molding the soft magnetic powder so as to have a volume filling rate of 75% or more and 77% or less (i.e., from 75% to 77%).

Provided is a reactor having a small installation area, low loss, and excellent productivity. The reactor includes a coil having a pair of winding portions and that are arranged side by side, and a magnetic core having a U-shaped core piece that is part of a powder compact. The U-shaped core piece includes a side base that has a portion opposite the ends of the pair of winding portions and uncovered by the winding portions, and disposed across the pair of winding portions, a pair of middle portions that protrude from the side base and respectively disposed inside the pair of winding portions, and an end surface facing a gap, a side extension portion extending from the side base orthogonally from the middle portions, and a central protruding portion protruding from the side base's central region, and are arranged side by side, away from the middle portions.

An inductor is disclosed, the inductor comprising: a T-shaped magnetic core, being made of a material comprising an annealed soft magnetic metal material and having a base and a pillar integrally formed with the base, wherein the volume of the base is V1 and the volume of the pillar is V2; a coil wound on the pillar; and a magnetic body encapsulating the pillar, the coil and a portion of the base, wherein the ratio of V1 to V2 (V1/V2) is configured in a pre-determined range so as to reduce the total core loss of the inductor with the equivalent permeability of the inductor being between 28.511 and 52.949.

A cermet material, including a plurality of ceramic particles defining a ceramic portion; and a plurality of high magnetic permeability metallic particles distributed throughout the ceramic portion to define an admixture. The ceramic particles and the metallic particles are generally the same size and shape. Each respective high magnetic permeability metallic particle has a magnetic permeability of at least 0.0001 H/m. The ceramic particles are selected from the group consisting of zirconia, yttria stabilized zirconia, zirconia toughened alumina, alumina, gadolinium oxide, TiB.sub.2, ZrB.sub.2, HfB.sub.2, TaB.sub.2, TiC, Cr.sub.3C.sub.2, and combinations thereof.

Flaky magnetic metal particles of embodiments each have a flat surface and a magnetic metal phase containing iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and silicon (Si). An amount of Co is from 0.001 at % to 80 at % with respect to the total amount of Fe and Co. An amount of Si is from 0.001 at % to 30 at % with respect to the total amount of the magnetic metal phase. The flaky magnetic metal particles have an average thickness of from 10 nm to 100 m. An average value of the ratio of the average length in the flat surface with respect to a thickness in each of the flaky magnetic metal particles is from 5 to 10,000. The flaky magnetic metal particles have the difference in coercivity on the basis of direction within the flat surface.

The magnetic composite material of the embodiments includes a magnetic material having a plane at the surface; and a plurality of fibrous materials. The magnetic material includes: a plurality of magnetic bodies having a planar structure, each of the magnetic bodies having a magnetic metal phase containing at least one first element selected from the group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni), and principal surfaces; and an intercalated phase containing at least one second element selected from the group consisting of oxygen (O), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and fluorine (F). The fibrous materials are oriented to be approximately perpendicular or approximately parallel to the principal surfaces and are provided in the intercalated phase. The principal surfaces are oriented to be approximately parallel to the plane and have the difference in coercivity on the basis of direction within the plane.

An inductor provided in the present invention, includes a magnetic core made of soft magnetic powder and a wire coil embedded inside the magnetic core. A method for manufacturing the inductor includes steps of: a pressing and molding step; and an annealing step. At the pressing and molding step, placing a wire coil in a mold, filling a cavity of the mold with soft magnetic powder surrounding the wire coil, molding at a pressure of 1224 T/cm.sup.2 to obtain a raw inductor. At the annealing step, placing the raw inductor in a heat furnace for calcinating and annealing so as to release residual stress inside the magnetic core and obtain the integrated inductor. In the present invention, a high-density, high-permeability inductor can be obtained, and no need to limit powder particle size of the soft magnetic powder.

Provided is a reactor having a small installation area, low loss, and excellent productivity. The reactor includes a coil having a pair of winding portions and that are arranged side by side, and a magnetic core having a U-shaped core piece that is part of a powder compact. The U-shaped core piece includes a side base that has a portion opposite the ends of the pair of winding portions and uncovered by the winding portions, and disposed across the pair of winding portions, a pair of middle portions that protrude from the side base and respectively disposed inside the pair of winding portions, and an end surface facing a gap, a side extension portion extending from the side base orthogonally from the middle portions, and a central protruding portion protruding from the side base's central region, and are arranged side by side, away from the middle portions.