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Permeability tensor of magnetized ferrites at microwave frequencies: A

comparison between theory and experiment

Article  in  Journal of Applied Physics · May 2003

DOI: 10.1063/1.1555393

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JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS VOLUME 93, NUMBER 10 15 MAY 2003

Ferrites and Garnets Gerald Dionne, Chairman

Permeability tensor of magnetized ferrites at microwave frequencies:

A comparison between theory and experiment
Stéphane Mallégol,a) Patrick Quéffélec, and Marcel Le Floc’h
LEST, UMR-CNRS 6165, 6 Av. Le Gorgeu, BP 809, 29285 Brest Cedex, France
共Presented on 13 November 2002兲
The permeability tensor of partially magnetized ferrites or composite materials, given by a recent
mathematical model developed in our laboratory, is compared with measured one over the 50
MHz– 6 GHz frequency range. The characterization method used to measure the tensor components
␮, ␬ is based on the broadband determination of the S parameters of a nonreciprocal strip
transmission line. The quasistatic electromagnetic analysis of the measurement cell permits the
expression of ␮ and ␬ analytically from the S parameters. The theoretical approach used to calculate
␮ and ␬ is based on the extension of the effective medium approximation 共EMA兲 to the case of
anisotropic magnetic materials. The interactions between magnetic domains and the hysteresis
phenomenon are taken into account in our calculations. The good agreement observed between
simulated and measured ␮ and ␬ data for polycrystalline ferrites and ferrimagnetic or ferromagnetic
loaded composites provides an experimental validation of the model. © 2003 American Institute
of Physics. 关DOI: 10.1063/1.1555393兴
I. INTRODUCTION fore, highly dispersive permeability of ferrite materials can-
not be satisfactorily resolved with those methods. For broad-
Over the years, ferrites in a partially magnetized state band measurements, an X-band rectangular waveguide
have found important applications in the area of microwave technique was first developed in our laboratory.7 A numerical
circuits for electronic and communication systems. Their an- optimization procedure is needed to solve the inverse prob-
isotropic properties are used in the design of components lem and then to obtain the diagonal ␮ and off-diagonal ␬
where nonreciprocity or tunability is needed 共circulator, iso- permeability tensor components of the rectangular magnetic
lator, filter, etc.兲. To optimize performances of such a device, test sample. Their calculation times are then important. To
the exact knowledge of the permeability tensor components avoid this drawback, we have worked out a new character-
of the constituent specimen is required. ization method based on a nonreciprocal strip transmission
Many theoretical approaches have been described to line.8 It enables one to analytically determine the terms ␮
characterize the permeability tensor. Existing models for un- and ␬ of magnetized rectangular magnetic samples from the
saturated ferrites are emperical1 or do not simultaneously S parameters of the loaded measurement cell, i.e., with the
provide all the tensor terms.2,4 Moreover, several simplifica- magnetic material, over the 50 MHz– 6 GHz frequency band.
tions are necessary to perform calculations. Indeed, these This article presents an experimental validation of the
theories assume either a nonrealistic magnetic domains above permeability tensor model5 through the comparison of
configuration2,3 or neglect interactions between domains.4 In theoretical ␮ and ␬ results with measured ones by using this
other words, they are not predictive. A predictive model new experimental technique.8 The presence of porosity and
based on the extension of the effective medium approxima- nonmagnetic volume fractions will be taken into account in
tion 共EMA兲 to the case of anisotropic magnetic materials was the model in order to precisely characterize polycrystalline
recently proposed by our research team.5 It provides the ferrites and magnetic composites.
whole tensor terms of unsaturated polycrystalline ferrites or
magnetic composites in a single phase. The model considers
II. THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL
the shape of the magnetic domains or particles, their interac-
DETERMINATION OF ␮ AND ␬
tions, the dilution of the magnetic matter, and the hysteresis
phenomenon. A. Mathematical model
In addition, experimental techniques giving the perme- The model described in Ref. 5 gives the permeability
ability tensor of magnetized ferrites at microwave frequen- tensor of heterogeneous magnetic materials in the unsatur-
cies have been implemented. Resonant methods6 offer the ated state. Calculations start with choosing the material mag-
highest accuracy in the magnetic parameters-determination. netization state (M /M s , where M s is the saturation magne-
But, they only allow single frequency measurements. There- tization兲. This fixes the distribution of the magnetic domains
magnetization direction over space. The EMA is then used to
a兲
Electronic mail: stephane.mallegol@univ-brest.fr determine the effective tensor components when a limited

0021-8979/2003/93(10)/7471/3/$20.00 7471 © 2003 American Institute of Physics

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7472 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 93, No. 10, Parts 2 & 3, 15 May 2003
number of parameters are known. These are M s , effective
anisotropy field in domain (H eff), as well as the damping
factor 共␣兲, and the domain shape 共sphere or cylinder兲. In this
study, H eff is deduced from the applied dc magnetic field
(H 0 ), and the anisotropy field (H a ) via the internal energy
minimization principle in each domain.9 The demagnetizing
effects are considered in our calculations by introducing in
the homogenization law a demagnetizing tensor linked to the
domain shape tensor.5
The EMA enables one to advantageously take account of
magnetic particles concentration 共q兲 in the material. If so, the
self-consistency of the model is reinforced. It, indeed, allows
to characterize polycrystalline ferrite and ferrimagnetic or
ferromagnetic loaded composite through the consideration of
porosity and nonmagnetic volume fractions, respectively. In
this case, the theory accounts for physical phenomenon in
heterogeneous media, e.g., a shift of the gyromagnetic reso-
nance frequency toward higher values further to the reduc-
tion in magnetic particles concentration 共q兲.
B. Noniterative measurement method of ␮ and ␬
We recently developed an experimental method permit-
ting one to determine the tensor components ␮, ␬ of mag-
netic materials using no iterative technique.8 The measure-
ment cell is constituted by a rigid conducting strip and lower
ground plane 共Fig. 1兲 with a thickness of 0.4 and 8.76 mm,
respectively. To adapt the empty cell, i.e., with no sample to
a characteristic impedance of 50 ⍀, the width 2b of the
conducting strip is 9 mm and the distance between it and the
ground plane is 1.8 mm. The rectangular magnetic sample to
be tested is placed between the strip and the ground plane.
This region of the cell is, indeed, the one where the micro-
wave energy is located. The nonreciprocal behavior of the
loaded cell is required in order to measure enough indepen-
dent S parameters to obtain ␮ and ␬. Two steps are needed to
ensure nonreciprocity (S 12⫽S 21). First, the cell must be
asymmetrically perturbed. To do so, a 5⫻5⫻1.8 mm3 rect-
angular piece of porous titania (TiO2 ) of relative permittivity
(␧ d ) equal to 15.5 is set at one edge of the strip and the air is
used at the other edge 共Fig. 1兲. Next, a dc magnetic field H 0
is applied along the y direction of a Cartesian coordinate
system. Thus, a field displacement phenomenon10 comes out
along the x axis.
By considering a new transmission-line parameter 共the
characteristic memductance兲11 and assuming magnetic walls
at both edges of the strip, we analytically expressed the terms
␮, ␬ of the magnetic sample to be tested by8
␮共 ␻ 兲
2a• ␥ ⫹ • ␥ ⫺
⫽ ,
␮ 0 ␧ 0 ␻ 2 关共 b⫺a 兲 • 共 1⫹␧ d 兲 ⫹2a•␧ 兴 ⫺2 共 b⫺a 兲 • ␥ ⫹ • ␥ ⫺
共1兲
␬共 ␻ 兲
关共 b⫺a 兲 • ␮ 共 ␻ 兲 ⫹a 兴 • 共 ␥ ⫹ ⫺ ␥ ⫺ 兲
⫽ , 共2兲
␮ 0 ␧ 0 ␻ 2 共 1⫺␧ d 兲 •a 共 b⫺a 兲
where ␮ 0 and ␧ 0 are permeability and permittivity of free
space, ␻ is the radian frequency, 2a the test sample width
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Mallégol, Quéffélec, and Le Floc’h
FIG. 1. Cross section of the measurement cell containing the magnetic
sample under test and porous titania (TiO2 ) sample.
共⫽5 mm兲, and ␧ its relative permittivity. ␥ ⫹ and ␥ ⫺ denote
the propagation coefficients for the forward and backward
senses of propagation. They come from S parameters of the
loaded cell by using analytical relations.8
III. EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF THE MODEL
A. Experimental setup
An HP 8720A network analyzer provides S parameters
of the entire cell. The first step in the measurement process is
to reduce systematic errors by using a SOLT calibration
procedure.8 The S parameters of the region of the cell loaded
by the samples are then deduced from measured S param-
eters of the entire cell after the appropriate phase corrections
have been applied. From that time, Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲 of ␮ and
␬ are employed to determine the permeability tensor of the
test sample.
The loaded cell is inserted in the air gap of an electro-
magnet to magnetize the sample under test. A Hall effect
Gaussmeter obtains H 0 strength. The electromagnet we used
provides a homogeneous bias field in a wide region of its air
gap, especially in the one where the test sample is located.
For example, if the strength of H 0 is 500 Oe at the center of
the electromagnet gap, it varies between 499.8 and 500.3 Oe
in a 20-mm-diameter circle centered at the center of the gap.
Measured data are processed by a personal computer as-
sociated with the network analyzer.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
In this section, the diagonal ␮ ⫽ ␮ ⬘ – j ␮ ⬙ and off-
diagonal ␬ ⫽ ␬ ⬘ – j ␬ ⬙ effective permeability tensor terms
given by the above model are compared with experimental
ones. Various magnetic materials of well-known intrinsic
properties were tested. For theoretical results, we assumed
cylinder-shaped-magnetic domains.
Figure 2 shows a comparison between theory and experi-
ment for a 5⫻5⫻1.8 mm3 polycrystalline ferrite sample
(4 ␲ M s ⫽1.5 kG, ␧⫽13.2) submitted to a dc magnetic field
H 0 of 0.75 kOe. The input parameters of the calculation code
associated with the model are: f m ⫽4.2 GHz, f eff
⫽1.56 GHz, M /M s ⫽0.5, ␣ ⫽0.175, and q⫽0.9 with f m
⫽ ␥ g .4␲ M s and f eff⫽␥g .Heff .␥g is the gyromagnetic ratio
J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 93, No. 10, Parts 2 & 3, 15 May 2003
FIG. 2. Effective permeability tensor components ␮, ␬ vs frequency ( f m
⫽4.2 GHz, f eff⫽1.56 GHz, M /M s ⫽0.5, ␣ ⫽0.175, q⫽0.9). Comparison
with measurements for a 5⫻5⫻1.8 mm3 polycrystalline ferrite sample
(4 ␲ M s ⫽1.5 kG), partially magnetized (H 0 ⫽0.75 kOe): 共a兲 ␮; 共b兲 ␬.
( ␥ g ⫽2.8 MHz/Oe). As mentioned in Sec. II A, H eff has been
previously calculated by using the Stoner–Wohlfarth model.9
We notice that simulated and measured ␮ and ␬ points agree
with the whole exploited frequency range. For example, the
theoretical ␮ ⬙ value is 2.59 at gyromagnetic resonance fre-
quency whereas the experimental one is 2.66 at the same
frequency 关Fig. 2共a兲兴, with a relative uncertainty of 2.63%.
At this frequency, calculated and measured ␬ ⬙ values are
equal to 1.84 and 1.79 关Fig. 2共b兲兴. Moreover, the extension of
magnetic losses up to f eff⫹f m experimentally observed on
both ␮ ⬙ and ␬ ⬙ curves also appears in theory, as it can be
seen in Figs. 2共a兲 and 2共b兲, respectively.
Currently, ferrimagnetic and ferromagnetic loaded com-
posite materials are widely used in planar microwave
devices.12,13 They have numerous advantages compared with
bulk ferrites: the nonrequirement of isostatic pressing, the
association of high saturation magnetization together with
low dielectric loss when ferromagnetic powders are used,
etc. To assist the device-design optimization, we applied the
previous model and experimental technique to characterize
such a composite material. In Fig. 3, measured ␮ and ␬ data
for a 5⫻5⫻1.8 mm3 ferrite loaded composite sample
(4 ␲ M s ⫽0.72 kG, q⫽0.7, ␧⫽13.8) are compared with the-
oretical ones. The applied dc magnetic field H 0 was 0.4 kOe.
The following parameters were entered in the model: f m
⫽2 GHz, f eff⫽0.95 GHz, M /M s ⫽0.475, ␣ ⫽0.22, and q
⫽0.7. Simulations compare equally well with measurements.
Indeed, as depicted in Fig. 3共b兲, the theoretical and experi-
mental ␬ ⬙ values, respectively, are 1.95 and 2.03 at gyro-
magnetic resonance frequency.
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FIG. 3. Effective permeability tensor components ␮, ␬ vs frequency ( f m
⫽2 GHz, f eff⫽0.95 GHz, M /M s ⫽0.475, ␣ ⫽0.22, q⫽0.7). Comparison
with measurements for a 5⫻5⫻1.8 mm3 ferrite loaded composite sample
(4 ␲ M s ⫽0.72 kG, q⫽0.7), partially magnetized (H 0 ⫽0.4 kOe): 共a兲 ␮;
共b兲 ␬.
The accord between simulated and measured ␮ and ␬,
showed in this study for partially magnetized polycrystalline
ferrites 共Fig. 2兲 and ferrite loaded composites 共Fig. 3兲, was
also observed for other samples. It experimentally highlights
the validity of the model we developed in the characteriza-
tion of such materials. However, the damping factor 共␣兲 en-
tered in the model is stronger than the one usually deduced
from the measured resonance linewidth. Indeed, it should be
of the order of 10⫺2 or lower.14 This difference likely results
from the cylinder-magnetic-domains-shape assumption. In
fact, domains have random shape. Therefore, a distribution
over domains shape needs to be considered but, this will be
discussed in a future publication.
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