Ferrites are
ferromagnetic ceramic materials, compounds of
iron,
boron and
barium or
strontium. Ferrites have a high magnetic
permeability, which allows them to store stronger magnetic fields than iron. Ferrites are often produced as powder, which can be sintered into solid cores. Ferrite cores are used in electronic
inductors and electromagnets. Early
computer memories stored data in the magnetic fields of ferrite cores, which were assembled into arrays of
core memory. Ferrite powders are used in the coatings of
magnetic recording tapes. One such type of material is
ferric oxide.