Magnetization measurements by

vibrating sample
BANSAL Shivansh
ARATA
ALOU

December 5, 2023

Date Performed: November 22, 2023

Instructor: Professor Devillers

Universite Grenoble Alpes

1 Introduction
A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) operates on Faraday’s Law
of Induction, which tells us that changing the magnetic field will pro-
duce an electric field. This electric field can be measured and can
tell us information about the changing magnetic field. A VSM is used
to measure the magnetic behavior of the magnetic materials. A VSM
operates by first placing the sample to be studied in a constant mag-
netic field. If the sample is magnetic, this constant magnetic field will
magnetize the sample by aligning the magnetic domains, or the indi-
vidual magnetic spins, with the field. The stronger the constant field,
the larger the magnetization will be. The magnetic dipole moment
of the sample will create a magnetic field around the sample, some-
times called the magnetic stray field. As the sample is moved up and
down, this magnetic stray field changes as a function of time and can
be sensed by a set of pick-up coils.
The alternating magnetic field will cause an electric field in the pick-
up coils according to Faraday’s Law of Induction. This current will

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 Figure 1: A schematic of Vibrating sample magnetometer

be proportional to the magnetization of the sample. The greater the

magnetization, the greater the induced current. The induction cur-
rent is amplified by a trans-impedance amplifier and lock-in ampli-
fier. The various components are hooked up to a computer inter-
face. Using controlling and monitoring software, the system can tell
you how much the sample is magnetized and how its magnetization
depends on the strength of the constant magnetic field. Figure 1
shows the schematic of VSM with all the parts of the setup. The sam-
ple, of magnetic moment 𝑚 ® , follows a vertical sinusoidal movement
𝑧 ( 𝑡 ) = 𝑧0 𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜔𝑡 ) , thus creating a variation of additive flux in the pick-
up coils. The latter are fixed poles of an electromagnet providing field
strength of up to 0.7T.

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2 VSM
2.1 Theoretical part
Consider a uniform magnetic field 𝐵® passing through a surface 𝑆®, the
magnetic flux through the surface can be defined as

Φ = 𝐵® · 𝑆® (1)

From Amperian law if a uniform current is flowing through an arbi-

trary shape then the resulting magnetic field can be calculated as
∮
® = 𝜇0 𝐼 𝑓
𝐵® · 𝑑𝑙 (2)
𝑙

𝐵® · 𝑔 (®𝑧 ) = 𝜇 0 𝐼 𝑓 (3)
𝜇0
𝐵® = · 𝐼𝑓 (4)
𝑔 (®𝑧 )
where 𝑔 ( 𝑧 ) is the geometric constant of the arbitrary shape. Combin-
ing equation (1) and (4).
𝜇0
Φ= · 𝐼 𝑓 · 𝑆® (5)
𝑔 (®𝑧 )

We know,
® = ®𝐼 · 𝑆®
𝑚 (6)
using the relation and substituting in equation (5).

=⇒ Φ = 𝑔 (®𝑧) · 𝑚
® (7)

Faraday’s law of induction states that there is induced emf 𝜖 in a coil

if there is a change of magnetic flux with respect to time.

𝑑Φ 𝐵
𝑒 (𝑡) = − (8)
𝑑𝑡
Applying Faraday’s law of induction to equation (7),

𝑑 ( 𝑔 (®𝑧 ) · 𝑚
®)
𝑒 (𝑡) = − (9)
𝑑𝑡

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As given the sample of magnetic moment 𝑚 ® , follows a vertical sinu-
soidal movement as 𝑧 ( 𝑡 ) = 𝑧𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑠 ( 𝜔𝑡 ) .

𝑑 𝑔 (®𝑧 ) 𝑑𝑧
𝑒 (𝑡) = − · ®
·𝑚 (10)
𝑑𝑧 𝑑𝑡
𝑧 = 𝑧𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡 (11)
𝑑𝑧
= −𝜔𝑧𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 (12)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑 𝑔 (®𝑧 )
𝑒 (𝑡) = ®
· 𝜔𝑧𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 · 𝑚 (13)
𝑑𝑧

2.2 Practical part

According to the equation (13) in the above section, the measured
® ).
voltage is directly proportional to the magnetic moment ( 𝑚

®
𝑒 (𝑡) ∝ 𝑚 (14)

® ) is the local property of the sample which is related

Magnetization ( 𝑀
to magnetic moment (𝑚 ® ) as the below equation:

® = ®
𝑑𝑚
𝑀 (15)
𝑑𝑉
® ∝𝑚
𝑀 ® (16)
®
=⇒ 𝑒 ( 𝑡 ) ∝ 𝑀 (17)
The polarities or winding directions of the four pick-up coils should
be along the direction of the current in order to induce a field in the
sample.

The calibration of the electromagnet was done using a Hall probe

gaussmeter by using the following relation 𝜇 𝑜 𝐻 = f(I). Figure 2 shows
the calibrated relation of the electromagnet. The graph is not linear as
at higher current value this can be understood as saturation of mag-
netization in the material, hysteresis of the magnetization or eddy
currents in the core material. If the direction of current is revered the
induced magnetic field in the electromagnet will reverse it’s direction.
Analytically will see a negative value of 𝜇 𝑜 𝐻 .

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Figure 2: Calibration graph of the electromagnet, the black line is the
experimentally measured data point and the red line is the linear fit
of the data set.

The approximated polynomial, 𝜇 𝑜 𝐻 ( 𝐼 ) with order 3 is: 𝑦 = −5.1004 𝑥 3 +

7.6639 𝑥 2 + 227.02 𝑥 + 7.5455

For the calibration of the magnetometer, a nickel cylinder with a di-

mension (length 9.5 mm, diameter 2.8 mm) was used. We know the
spontaneous magnetization of Ni is 𝑀𝑠 = 4.85 ∗ 105 𝐴/𝑚, with lock-in
parameters (frequency 37Hz, amplitude 0.12V)

Calibration with Nickel

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Figure 3: Calibration graph of the electromagnet, the black line is the
experimentally measured data point and the red line is the linear fit
of the data set.

Figure 4: Calibration graph of the electromagnet, the black line is the

experimentally measured data point and the red line is the linear fit
of the data set.