Magnetic

Materials
By Disney Marie Espartero and Vince Jalandra
Magnetic Material

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What Makes a
Material
Magnetic?

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The origin of magnetism lies in
the orbital and spin motions
of electrons and how the
electrons interact with one
another.

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The magnetic response of a materials
is largely determined by the magnetic
dipole moment associated with the
intrinsic angular momentum, or spin, of
its electrons.

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A material’s response to an applied
magnetic field can be characterized as
diamagnetic, paramagnetic,
ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic.

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 1.
Diamagnetism

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 “
Diamagnetic substances are
composed of atoms which have
no net magnetic moments.

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 “
Diamagnetism is a fundamental
property of all matter, although it is
usually very weak.

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 “
It is due to the non-cooperative
behavior of orbiting electrons when
exposed to an applied magnetic field.

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 “
All the orbital shells are filled and
there are no unpaired electrons.

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“

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 “
When exposed to a field, a negative
magnetization is produced and thus
the susceptibility is negative.

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 “
When the field is zero, the
magnetization is zero.

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 Examples of diamagnetic materials
✘ Quartz
✘ Calcite
✘ Water

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 2.
Paramagnetism

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 “
In paramagnetism, some of the
atoms or ions in the material
have a net magnetic moment
due to unpaired electrons in
partially filled orbitals.

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 “
The individual magnetic moments do
not interact magnetically, and like
diamagnetism, the magnetization is
zero when the field is removed.

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 “
In the presence of a field, there is now
a partial alignment of the atomic
magnetic moments in the direction of
the field, resulting in a net positive
magnetization and positive
susceptibility.

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“

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 “
The efficiency of the field in aligning
the moments is opposed by the
randomizing effects of temperature.
This results in a temperature
dependent susceptibility, known as
the Curie Law.

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 Examples of Paramagnetic Materials
✘ Biotite (silicate)
✘ Siderite(carbonate)
✘ Pyrite (sulfide)

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 “
The paramagnetism of the matrix
minerals in natural samples can be
significant if the concentration of
magnetite is very small. In this case, a
paramagnetic correction may be
needed.

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 3.
Ferromagnetism

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 “
Unlike paramagnetic materials,
the atomic moments in these
materials exhibit very strong
interactions.

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 “
These interactions are produced
by electronic exchange forces and
result in a parallel or antiparallel
alignment of atomic moments.

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 “
Exchange forces are very large,
equivalent to a field on the order
of 1000 Tesla, or approximately a
100 million times the strength of
the earth's field.

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 “
The exchange force is a quantum
mechanical phenomenon due to
the relative orientation of the
spins of two electrons.

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 “
Ferromagnetic materials exhibit
parallel alignment of moments
resulting in large net magnetization
even in the absence of a magnetic
field.

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“

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 “
Spontaneous magnetization is the
net magnetization that exists inside
a uniformly magnetized microscopic
volume in the absence of a field.

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 “
The magnitude of this magnetization,
at 0 K, is dependent on the spin
magnetic moments of electrons.

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 “
Saturation magnetization is the
maximum induced magnetic moment
that can be obtained in a magnetic
field (Hsat); beyond this field no further
increase in magnetization occurs.

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 “
Saturation magnetization is an
intrinsic property, independent of
particle size but dependent on
temperature.

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“

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 “
As compared to paramagnetic
materials, the magnetization in
ferromagnetic materials is saturated
in moderate magnetic fields and at
high (room-temperature)
temperatures.

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“

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 “
Even though electronic exchange
forces in ferromagnets are very large,
thermal energy eventually overcomes
the exchange and produces a
randomizing effect.

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 “
This occurs at a particular
temperature called the Curie
temperature (TC). The saturation
magnetization goes to zero at the
Curie temperature.

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“

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 “
Below the Curie temperature, the
ferromagnet is ordered and above it,
disordered.

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 “
The Curie temperature is also an
intrinsic property and is a diagnostic
parameter that can be used for
mineral identification.

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 “
However, it is not foolproof because
different magnetic minerals, in principle,
can have the same Curie temperature.

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 “
In addition to the Curie temperature and
saturation magnetization, ferromagnets
can retain a memory of an applied field
once it is removed.

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 “
This behavior is called hysteresis and a
plot of the variation of magnetization
with magnetic field is called a hysteresis
loop.

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“

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 “
Another hysteresis property is
the coercivity of remanence (Hr). This is the
reverse field which, when applied and then
removed, reduces the saturation
remanence to zero.

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 “
The various hysteresis parameters are not
solely intrinsic properties but are dependent
on grain size, domain state, stresses, and
temperature.

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 “
Because hysteresis parameters are
dependent on grain size, they are useful for
magnetic grain sizing of natural samples.

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 Examples of Ferromagnetic Materials
✘ Gadolinium
✘ Magnetite
✘ Samarium-Cobalt Magnet

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 4.
Ferrimagnetism

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 “
In ferrimagnets, the magnetic
moments of the A and B sublattices
are not equal and result in a net
magnetic moment.

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“

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 “
Magnetite is a well known ferrimagnetic
material. Indeed, magnetite was considered
a ferromagnet until Néel in the 1940's,
provided the theoretical framework for
understanding ferrimagnetism.

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“

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 “
The clue to antiferromagnetism is the behavior
of susceptibility above a critical temperature,
called the Néel temperature (TN). Above TN, the
susceptibility obeys the Curie-Weiss law for
paramagnets but with a negative intercept
indicating negative exchange interactions.

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“

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 5.
Antiferromagnetism

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 “
If the A and B sublattice
moments are exactly equal but
opposite, the net moment is zero.

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“

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 “
Hematite crystallizes in the corundum
structure with oxygen ions in an hexagonal
close packed framework. The magnetic
moments of the Fe3+ ions are
ferromagnetically coupled within specific c-
planes, but antiferromagnetically coupled
between the planes.
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 “
Above -10°C, the spin moments lie in
the c-plan but are slightly canted.
This produces a weak spontaneous
magnetization within the c-plan
(σs = 0.4 Am2/kg).

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 “
Below -10°C, the direction of the
antiferromagnetism changes and
becomes parallel to the c-axis; there
is no spin canting and hematite
becomes a perfect antiferromagnet.

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 “
This spin-flop transition is called the
Morin transition.

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“

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“

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Superconductive materials
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The phenomenon of superconductivity was discovered by
the Danish physicist H. Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926;
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1913), who found a way to liquefy
helium, which boils at 4.2 K and 1 atm pressure.

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 “
To exploit the very low temperatures made possible by
this new cryogenic fluid, he began a systematic study of
the properties of metals, especially their electrical
properties. Because the electrical resistance of a sample
is technically easier to measure than its conductivity,
Onnes measured the resistivity of his samples.

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 “
In 1911, Onnes discovered that at about 4 K,
the resistivity of metallic mercury (melting
point = 234 K) decreased suddenly to
essentially zero, rather than continuing to
decrease only slowly with decreasing
temperature as expected

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 “
He called this
phenomenon superconductivity because a
resistivity of zero means that an electrical
current can flow forever. Onnes soon discovered
that many other metallic elements exhibit
superconductivity at very low temperatures.

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 “
He called this
phenomenon superconductivity because a
resistivity of zero means that an electrical
current can flow forever. Onnes soon discovered
that many other metallic elements exhibit
superconductivity at very low temperatures.

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 “
Each of these superconductors has a
characteristic superconducting transition
temperature (Tc) at which its resistivity drops to
zero. At temperatures less than their Tc,
superconductors also completely expel a
magnetic field from their interior.

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 “
This phenomenon is called the Meissner
effect after one of its discoverers, the German
physicist Walther Meissner, who described the
phenomenon in 1933. Due to the Meissner effect,
a superconductor will actually “float” over a
magnet.

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“

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 “
In the early 1950s, however, American physicists
John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Schrieffer
formulated a theory for superconductivity that
earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972.

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 “
According to the BCS theory, electrons are
able to travel through a solid with zero
resistance because of attractive interactions
involving two electrons that are at some
distance from each other. As one electron
moves through the lattice, the surrounding
nuclei are attracted to it.
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 “
The motion of the nuclei can create a
transient (short-lived) hole that pulls the
second electron in the same direction as the
first. The nuclei then return to their original
positions to avoid colliding with the second
electron as it approaches.

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 “
The pairs of electrons, called Cooper pairs,
migrate through the crystal as a unit. The
electrons in Cooper pairs change partners
frequently, like dancers in a ballet.

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 “
Additionally, because superconductors expel
magnetic fields, a combination of magnetic
rails and superconducting wheels (or vice
versa) could be used to produce magnetic
levitation of, for example, a train over the track,
resulting in friction-free transportation.

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 “
Unfortunately, for many years the only
superconductors known had serious limitations,
especially the need for very low temperatures,
which required the use of expensive cryogenic
fluids such as liquid He.

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 “
In addition, the superconducting properties of
many substances are destroyed by large
electrical currents or even moderately large
magnetic fields, making them useless for
applications in power cables or high-field
magnets.

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 “
Because of these limitations, scientists continued to search for
materials that exhibited superconductivity at temperatures
greater than 77 K (the temperature of liquid nitrogen, the least
expensive cryogenic fluid). In 1986, Johannes G. Bednorz and Karl
A. Müller, working for IBM in Zurich, showed that certain mixed-
metal oxides containing La, Ba, and Cu exhibited
superconductivity above 30 K.

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 “
These compounds had been prepared by
French workers as potential solid catalysts
some years earlier, but their electrical
properties had never been examined at low
temperatures. Although initially the scientific
community was extremely skeptical, the
compounds were so easy to prepare that the
results were confirmed within a few weeks.

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 “
These high-temperature
superconductors earned Bednorz and
Müller the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987.
Subsequent research has produced new
compounds with related structures that
are superconducting at temperatures as
high as 135 K.

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 “
The best known of these was discovered
by Paul Chu and Maw-Kuen Wu Jr. and is
called the “Chu–Wu phase” or the 1-2-3
superconductor.

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 “
The formula for the 1-2-3 superconductor is
YBa2Cu3O7−x, where x is about 0.1 for samples
that superconduct at about 95 K. If x ≈ 1.0, giving
a formula of YBa2Cu3O6, the material is an
electrical insulator. The superconducting phase
is thus a nonstoichiometric compound, with a
fixed ratio of metal atoms but a variable
oxygen content.

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Properties of Superconductors “

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 “
The formula for the 1-2-3 superconductor is
YBa2Cu3O7−x, where x is about 0.1 for samples
that superconduct at about 95 K. If x ≈ 1.0, giving
a formula of YBa2Cu3O6, the material is an
electrical insulator. The superconducting phase
is thus a nonstoichiometric compound, with a
fixed ratio of metal atoms but a variable
oxygen content.

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“

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 Examples of Superconductors
✘ Aluminum
✘ Nobium
✘ Magnesium diboride

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