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Ferrimagnetism
In physics, a ferrimagnetic material is one that has populations of atoms
with opposing magnetic moments, as in antiferromagnetism; however, in
ferrimagnetic materials, the opposing moments are unequal and a spontaneous
magnetization remains.[1] This happens when the populations consist of
different materials or ions (such as Fe2+ and Fe3+).

Ferrimagnetism is exhibited by ferrites and magnetic garnets. The oldest Ferrimagnetic ordering
known magnetic substance, magnetite (iron(II,III) oxide; Fe3O4), is a
ferrimagnet; it was originally classified as a ferromagnet before Néel's
discovery of ferrimagnetism and antiferromagnetism in 1948.[2]

Known ferrimagnetic materials include YIG (yttrium iron garnet), cubic ferrites composed of iron oxides and other
elements such as aluminum, cobalt, nickel, manganese and zinc, hexagonal ferrites such as PbFe12O19 and BaFe12O19, and
pyrrhotite, Fe1−xS.[3]

Contents
Effects of temperature
Properties
Molecular ferrimagnets
See also
References

Effects of temperature
Ferrimagnetic materials are like ferromagnets in that they hold a spontaneous magnetization below the Curie temperature
and show no magnetic order (are paramagnetic) above this temperature. However, there is sometimes a temperature
below the Curie temperature, at which the two opposing moments are equal, resulting in a net magnetic moment of zero;
this is called the magnetization compensation point. This compensation point is observed easily in garnets and rare-
earth–transition-metal alloys (RE-TM). Furthermore, ferrimagnets may also have an angular-momentum compensation
point, at which the net angular momentum vanishes. This compensation point is a crucial point for achieving high speed
magnetization reversal in magnetic memory devices.[4]

Properties
Ferrimagnetic materials have high resistivity and have anisotropic properties. The anisotropy is actually induced by an
external applied field. When this applied field aligns with the magnetic dipoles, it causes a net magnetic dipole moment
and causes the magnetic dipoles to precess at a frequency controlled by the applied field, called Larmor or precession
frequency. As a particular example, a microwave signal circularly polarized in the same direction as this precession
strongly interacts with the magnetic dipole moments; when it is polarized in the opposite direction, the interaction is very
low. When the interaction is strong, the microwave signal can pass through the material. This directional property is used
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in the construction of microwave devices like isolators, circulators and gyrators.

Ferrimagnetic materials are also used to produce optical isolators and circulators.
Ferrimagnetic minerals in various rock types are used to study ancient geomagnetic
properties of Earth and other planets. That field of study is known as
paleomagnetism.

Molecular ferrimagnets
➀ Below the magnetization
Ferrimagnetism can also occur in molecular magnets. A classic example is a compensation point,
dodecanuclear manganese molecule with an effective spin S = 10 derived from ferrimagnetic material is
antiferromagnetic interaction on Mn(IV) metal centres with Mn(III) and Mn(II) magnetic. ➁ At the
metal centres.[5] compensation point, the
magnetic components cancel
each other and the total
See also magnetic moment is zero. ➂
Above the Curie point, the
Orbital magnetization material loses magnetism.
Anisotropy energy

References
1. Spaldin, Nicola A. (2010). "9. Ferrimagnetism". Magnetic materials : fundamentals and applications (2nd ed.).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 113–129. ISBN 9780521886697.
2. L. Néel, Propriétées magnétiques des ferrites; Férrimagnétisme et antiferromagnétisme, Annales de Physique (Paris)
3, 137–198 (1948).
3. Klein, C. and Dutrow, B., Mineral Science, 23rd ed., Wiley, p. 243.
4. C. D. Stanciu, A. V. Kimel, F. Hansteen, A. Tsukamoto, A. Itoh, A. Kirilyuk, and Th. Rasing, Ultrafast spin dynamics
across compensation points in ferrimagnetic GdFeCo: The role of angular momentum compensation, Phys. Rev. B
73, 220402(R) (2006).
5. Sessoli, Roberta; Tsai, Hui Lien; Schake, Ann R.; Wang, Sheyi; Vincent, John B.; Folting, Kirsten; Gatteschi, Dante;
Christou, George; Hendrickson, David N. (1993). "High-spin molecules: [Mn12O12(O2CR)16(H2O)4]". J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 115 (5): 1804–1816. doi:10.1021/ja00058a027 (https://doi.org/10.1021%2Fja00058a027).

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