Permanent magnets are now made of special alloys developed through research in order to generate ever-better magnets. The most common families of permanent magnet materials used today include aluminum-nickel-cobalt (alnicos), strontium-iron (ferrites, also known as ceramics), neodymium-iron-boron (a.k.a. neodymium magnets, or "super magnets"), and samarium-cobalt. (The samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron families are examples of rare-earth elements.)