Method for producing high purity neodymium, high purity neodymium, a rare earth magnet to a sputtering target and high purity neodymium component consisting of high purity neodymium

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique capable of providing, both efficiently and stably, a high-purity neodymium, a sputtering target comprising a high-purity neodymium, and a thin film for a rare earth magnet using a high-purity neodymium as a component.SOLUTION: In a method for manufacturing a high-purity neodymium having a gas component-excluded purity of 4N5 or higher, a neodymium batch having a purity of 4N or higher is prepared by reducing, with distilled calcium, a raw neodymium fluoride ingredient having a gas component-excluded purity of 4N or higher, and after the neodymium has been skull-melted and then cooled gradually so as to prepare a neodymium ingot, the obtained skull ingot is cut so as to remove therefrom a bottom portion in which a segregated oxide layer segment exists, and the remaining neodymium ingot is melted with electron beams so as to remove therefrom volatile substances. The method for manufacturing a high-purity neodymium stipulates a C content of 100 wt.ppm or less, an O content of 50 wt.ppm or less, Al and Fe contents of 10 wt.ppm or less each, and a Cu content of 1 wt.ppm or less.