Nd16Co72-xRu xC11B boro-carbides have been prepared by arc melting and studied by X-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements. X-ray diffraction results confirm that all the prepared alloys possess the tetragonal 2:14:1 (P4(2)/mmm) hard magnetic phase. The observed decrease of the magnetization and Curie temperature indicate the development of antiferromagnetic spin correlations with the increase of the Ru content. The combined addition of B and C is favorable to the formation and stabilization of the tetragonal phase in these compounds. At lower Ru contents the Curie temperature is higher than in the corresponding Co-based boride in spite of larger cell volumes.

The Nd16Co76-xRu xC7B system has been investigated to assess the effect of boron-carbon combined addition on the ferromagnetic behavior of these intermetallic compounds. The results indicate that the addition of 1 at.% B favors the formation of the tetragonal magnetic phase 2:14:1 in these alloys. With the increase of the Ru concentration is observed an expansion of the lattice in the basal plane as well as a contraction along the c direction of the tetragonal unit cell. The Curie temperature decreases from 432 K at x = 6 to 421 K for x = 27, whereas the saturation magnetization has a steep decrease. The highest T C value has been verified for the alloy with the largest c parameter, despite its a parameter is the smallest one. In comparison to isotypic borides and pure carbides, a loss of coercivity and remanence is observed.