Stepping motor

A stepping motor comprising:

• a stator;
• and
• a moving element disposed in opposed relation to the stator and movable in a predetermined movement direction with respect to the stator;
• wherein the stator comprises a plurality of main poles, windings for the respective main poles, a plurality of stator teeth disposed on each of the main poles in opposed relation to the moving element and spaced from each other in the movement direction, and stator slots provided between respective adjacent pairs of the stator teeth;
• wherein the moving element comprises a plurality of moving element teeth disposed in opposed relation to the stator and spaced from each other in the movement direction, and moving element slots provided between respective adjacent pairs of the moving element teeth;
• wherein slot magnets of hard magnetic inserts each magnetized in a slot depth direction are respectively provided in the stator slots and/or the moving element slots;
• wherein the slot magnets each have a width that is 60% to 80% of a width of each of the slots as measured in the movement direction.