Remanence is the magnetization left behind in a ferromagnetic material (such as a reed blade) after an external magnetic field is removed.
Reed Switches are designed and manufactured to have as low a remanence as possible. Reed blades are put through a special annealing process to minimize remanence and increase magnetic premeability.
Remanence or remanent magnetization or residual magnetism is the magnetization left behind in a ferromagnetic material (such as iron) after an external magnetic field is removed. Colloquially, when a magnet is "magnetized", it has remanence. The remanence of magnetic materials provides the magnetic memory in magnetic storage devices, and is used as a source of information on the past Earth's magnetic field in paleomagnetism. The word remanence is derived from remanent, meaning "that which remains".
The equivalent term residual magnetization is generally used in engineering applications. In transformers, electric motors and generators a large residual magnetization is not desirable (see also electrical steel) as it is an unwanted contamination, for example, a magnetization remaining in an electromagnet after the current in the coil is turned off. Where it is unwanted, it can be removed by degaussing.
Sometimes the term retentivity is used for remanence measured in units of magnetic flux density.
