To clarify the orientational memory site in the hydrogen disproportionation desorption recombination process ofNd2Fe14B-based anisotropic magnets, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization of hydrogen disproportionated structure ofNd13.0Fe67.9Co11.0Ga1.0Zr0.1B7.0has been performed. In particular, crystallographic orientations of disproportionated products relative to that of parent or originalNd2Fe14Bhave been carefully analyzed using partially disproportionated samples. No apparent orientational coherency exists between the disproportionated products of &agr;-Fe,Fe2B,andNdH2and the parentNd2Fe14B.However, nanoscaleNd2Fe14Bparticles of 10 to 100 nm in diameter have been detected by HRTEM to be densely present within the disproportionated mixture. Lattice fringe observation has also revealed that the crystallographic axes of theNd2Fe14Bparticles are nearly parallel to those of the originalNd2Fe14B.It is thus suggested that theseNd2Fe14Bparticles be the orientational memory site upon the recombination, which recovers the original orientation leading to the anisotropy formation. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.