Sour of Magnet sd Magne Mater 118199) 39-366 S33 Wt Magnetic anisotropy in fine magnetic particles Sami H. Mahmood Pos Deen, Yannoni, Hd ada snr, he mageztion cane neato eter cnn K ae ced forte stems of FeO, fine pare ig spl moe for he pari sie dart une. The el Pes er th en pure ‘Somer bch ri god spcoment wih fear cae om manson coh roan Ah els {te snscropr comnts in god srecmene the han fam te tertre Senne oe foment 1. Introduction Fine magnetic particles (FMP) have received considerable attention du to thei technological and scientific importance [I]. FMPS are single domain particles with diameters typically = 100 ‘The magnetic easy axes of the particles are ‘randomly oriented, and the magnetic anisotropy {8 owualy assumed uniaxial with an effective anisotropy constant K [2] For such particles, the ‘thermal energy i comparable to the magnetic fnisotropy energy, and the magnetic moment of the partite could relax daring the messurin time giving a zero net magnetization in the ab: sence of an applied magnetic field. Thus, an assembly of such particles exhibits supenpsramag. neti behavior, and hence, no temanence oF coer vty would be observed. The classical theory of pbaramagnetsm is employed inthe interpretations fof the magnetic properties of fine particle sy tems. This theory proved successful for such 9s tems. For details of the theory of superparamas- netsm the reader s referred to ret. ‘In an applied magnetic field H, the classical theory predicts that the magnetization M of @ rem: DSH amen, Ps epine ‘sample of fine particles asthe form of Langevin function, Le, M=MgL( Bult) = Molooth( put) ~ 1/841, o ‘where = MV is the magnetic moment of the particle, isthe volume ofthe particle, Mz is the Saturation magnetization of the bulk’ material, B= 1/kyT and M, i the saturation magni tion ofthe sample. However, in real sistem, the size of the parties isnot constant. To account for the effect ofthe variability ofthe partie size, fone assumes 2 convenient distribution function {or the parle sive. Chantel ta. [3] employed 4 log-normal volume distribution, with the me- Gian particle diameter D,, and its tandard devia tion ay as iting parameters. In this method, the values'of Da, obtained are usually smaller than ‘those obtained by lecton micrographs Its us ally suggested thatthe diference is due to the non-magnetic coating layer. Further, the log-nor 1mal dstution does not ive a good fit (0 the ‘experimental data over the entire magnetiration furve unless corrected for iterparile interac tions (5 ‘The ankotropy constant KC for magnetic sys- tems was calculated by workers using diferent (04.855 /9/30600 © 1953 — ever See Pablnbr BLY. Al ihe enedx SSH Mako / Magn npn fe mag prices methods. The law of approach to saturation (6) equtes high magnetic fields and or low temper- atures, especialy in studying material having high anisotropy enerpes. The thermal decay of the remanence magnetization wat used f0 calculate the anisotropy constants for weakly interacting systems of fine particles suspended in a lguid carir (7 and for dried powders of fine particles apparently with signifeant interparticle interac tions (This method requires temperatures = 5 K, in order to obtain a reasonably accurate value for the saturation remanence. Méssbaucr spec. troscopy was used to study the anisotropy enerey ‘of superparamagnetic microcrystals [29]. This method requires knowledge of the particle-size 1, eg (3) is reduced ta the form 3My pele 1, sihcoaqy) aay" ~pxcrm, |) Anois const Kegel vn $FTD, a ftom the temperature dependence of fe eae aon URS Simp Keeaseny STD ae = i Sa a ox? ante ‘This factor was found to contsbute only =3% t0 the anisotropy constant of the samples under investigation, The value of Hy 20) kOe was found for the three samples. This result is consis: tent with the fact that V,=24.A forthe three sams. ‘The anisotropy constant of the sample was ‘hen calelated using a FTD, and the reslt aM BMV Ve) {ln QBMHM) ABM HK}. (6) The subintervals (and their corresponding weights) that were used to fit the magnetization curves are used in eq. (6) to calculate K. The result ofthe SFTD at ised in table 2 (he listed values are corrected for the 1/H? high field dependence). These results are in good agree- ment with those obtained from the remanent magnetization data. However, these vals are higher than those calculated from the remanent ‘magnetization data of clue suspensions of Fe,0, fine particles (7. The higher anisotropy could be attributed 10 Interpartle iterations in the powder samples of the present study K uagueseain Guts, TOWEYEE, tse valves are higher than those calculated from the remanent ‘magnetization data of dilute suspensions of Fe,O), fine particles (7. The higher anisotropy could be attributed to interparticle interactions in theSH Meteo / Map nap ie mag pais 1 3 were cach fited with dsteibuion of hyperfine fields PCB), and the results are shown in fi 4a. Sines the temperature ofthe measurements 5 eT a Fi 3. Moshaver seta forthe saps t T= 77K, & o reo Per © nN 4 4] A Leh ee ih Fe 4.) Dtebuton of pene fle Ay) andthe coeremoning Satin of pr mete PD), {is much smaller than the blocking temperatures fof the samples, and the observed hyperfine fields fare < 10% lower than the saturation hyperfine field of bulk FeO, one can use the relation (2) Byq= Bg(1 = kgT/2KV). a ‘This relation is used to derive the distribution of particediameters, PCD), using. the calculated values of A (able 2), The resulting distributions for the particle diameters are shown in fi. 4b). ‘The large diameter tail in the distribution of sample U confirms the presence of large particles due to the preparation without centrifuging, and the tal in the distribution of sample Ais an indication of the growth of the particles de 0 the annealing process. These distributions were used t0 determine the mean particle's diameter in each sample, and the results are tabulated in table 1. The results are in good agreement with those obtained from electron micrographs, and ‘those from fitting the data using a SFTD; this indicates that the calculated values of ‘the anisotropy constants are reliable. 4. Conclusions In this study, the magnetization curves and the anisotropy constants were calculated Using a sim=ple Nat topped distribution for the particle sizes, ‘The method discussed above gives results in good reement with the experimental dita, and with {he results obtained by other methods. The sue ‘eof this ealeulation method makes it possible to determine the mean particle volume, and the anisotropy constant (and hence, the blocking tem= erature) of a fine particle systems using room femperature measurements, Acknowledgements {Lam grateful to. Popplewell, K. O'Grady and to DPE. Dickson for making may scientific visit to the UK, and the use oftheir equipment poss ble. Special thanks are due to M. ELHilo for his ‘sistance in the experimental part. SUL Mabaot / Meg asc is fine mec pares References [a] Kane, CJ Ph 65 4 128, B'S Map JA: Dena Tp i: Aniations of Maver Spectecopy, wT. sd Ri Chen ‘cde Pen, New York 90D (9) 1S acts an CP Bea: Mapai ol 3 ek 7. ‘Rado nd Sub Academe Press New York. 190), (4) RW. Chanel, 1 Poppewsh and SW. Cy EEE. “Trane Magn MAG-18 (9009 151A, Rec Cmte, SW, Chae J. revel Pic 89 1) Gap DSi 8 Dat Pps Rx 1525 8) 3 (7) LW. Chanel M4 and K. O'Grady, HEE Tea, Magn. MAG UDB 35 (x) S10 Maho st Abo Ataryeah, tobe publi 181 Mrap and H Tope, App Pye 18 Ce)