Magnetic Materials

Objective

To Learn

 The basic parameters involved in the magnetic properties of the

materials
 Magnetic Properties of Materials

 Magnetic Flux
 Magnetic Flux Density or Magnetic Induction ( B )
 Intensity of magnetization ( I )
 Magnetic Field (H) or Magnetic intensity
 Magnetic Permeability ( μ )
 Relative Permeability ( μr )
 Magnetic susceptibility ( χ )
 Magnetic Properties of Materials
Magnetic Flux

Total number of magnetic lines of force passing through a surface

is known as Magnetic flux ( φ). Its unit is Weber (W or Wb)
Magnetic flux density (B) or Magnetic Induction

Magnetic flux density (B) at any point in a Magnetic field is

defined as the magnetic flux ( φ) passing normally through unit
area of cross section (A) a that point. Its unit is Weber/metre2
(W/m2 )

Magnetic Flux Density (B) = φ / A W/m2 or Tesla

Vacuum medium
 Intensity of Magnetisation (I)

The electrons circulating around the nucleus have a magnetic

moment. When the material is not magnetised the magnetic dipole
moment sum up to zero. When the material is kept in an external
magnetic field, the magnetic moments are aligned in a particular
direction and the material gets a net non-zero dipole moment. The
net dipole moment per unit volume is defined as magnetization or
intensity of magnetisation.
The magnetic moment per unit volume of the given substance is:

I = μ / V Unit: W/m2

μ-magnetic dipole moment of the specimen

V Volume of the given specimen
 Magnetic Field (H) or Magnetic intensity

Magnetic Field Intensity at any point in a magnetic field is the

force experienced by the unit north pole placed at that point. Its

unit is Newton/Weber (N/W) or Ampere turns per metre (A/m)

 Magnetic Permeability ( μ )
Magnetic permeability of a medium or substance measures
the degree to which the magnetic field can penetrate through
the substance or medium.

The magnetic flux density is directly proportional to the

magnetic field strength BαH
B= μ H
μ = B/H
The absolute permeability of the medium or substance is also the product
of permeability Of free space ( μo ) and the relative permeability of a
medium ( μr )

μ = μo x μr

μr = μo / μ
For air and non-magnetic materials it is “ 1 “
 Magnetic field and Magnetic field intensity

In medium

Magnetic
susceptibility

Magnetic Susceptibility indicates, how ease the material becomes

magnetized under an applied or given magnetic field.
 Magnetic field and Magnetic field intensity

Relative
In medium permeability

Relative permeability (μr) measures the

magnetic field in a medium with respect
to that in a vacuum

Since B depends on the magnetization of the

medium, μr measures the ease with which the
material becomes magnetized
 Magnetic field and Magnetic field intensity

In medium Magnetic permeability

Magnetic permeability (μ) is the

magnetic field generated per unit
magnetizing field
 Critical temperature (Tc)

Temperature that separates the superconducting state from the

normal state. Above Tc, the substance is in the normal state with
a finite resistivity, but below Tc, it is in the superconducting state
with zero resistivity.

Curie temperature (Tc)

The temperature at which the ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic

properties are lost. Above the Curie temperature, the material
behaves as if it were paramagnetic.
 MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT

Magnetic properties of materials involve concepts based on the

magnetic dipole moment (m).
 MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT

Magnetic properties of materials involve concepts based on the

magnetic dipole moment (m).

To Understand, let see about electric dipole moment

 MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT

Magnetic moments originate from the flow of electron

Magnetic dipole moment (μm) is defined as

μm = IAun

where I is the current flowing in a circuit

loop of area A and un is the unit vector in the
direction of an advance of a screw when it is
turned in the direction of the circulating
current
Current
Loop μm is normal to the surface of the loop
 MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT

Magnetic moment in a magnetic field experiences a torque that tries to

rotate μm to align it with the field.

In a nonuniform field, the magnetic moment experiences a force that

attracts it to a greater field.
 MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT

Magnetic moment behaves like a bar magnet

A magnetic dipole moment puts out a magnetic field just like bar
magnet. The field B depends on µm.
 Atomic Magnetic Moments

An orbiting electron in an atom behaves much like a current loop

and has a magnetic dipole moment associated with it, called the
orbital magnetic moment (μorb)
current I due to the orbiting electron

ω is the angular frequency of

the electron
 Atomic Magnetic Moments

An orbiting electron in an atom behaves much like a current loop and

has a magnetic dipole moment associated with it, called the orbital
magnetic moment (μorb)
Current I due to the orbiting electron

ω is the angular frequency of the

electron
Magnetic dipole moment is
 Atomic Magnetic Moments

The spin of the electron has a spin magnetic moment, denoted by

μspin

The electron also has an intrinsic

angular momentum S, that is spin
 Atomic Magnetic Moments

The spin of the electron has a spin magnetic moment, denoted by

μspin

Magnetic moment along the field

 Atomic Magnetic Moments

The spin of the electron has a spin magnetic moment,

denoted by μspin

Magnetic moment along the field

Bohr Magneton
 Classification of Magnetic Materials

The origin of magnetism lies in the orbital and spin motions of

electrons and how the electrons interact with one another.

The best way to introduce the different types of magnetism is to

describe how materials respond to magnetic fields.

The main distinction is that in some materials there is no collective

interaction of atomic magnetic moments, whereas in other
materials there is a very strong interaction between atomic
moments.
 Classifications of Magnetic Materials
 Diamagnetism
 Paramagnetism
 Ferromagnetism
 Ferrimagnetism
 Antiferromagnetism
Materials in the first two groups are those that exhibit no collective
magnetic interactions and are not magnetically ordered.

Materials in the last three groups exhibit long-range magnetic order

below a certain critical temperature.

Ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials are usually what we consider

as being magnetic (ie., behaving like iron).
The remaining three are so weakly magnetic that they are usually
thought of as "nonmagnetic".
 Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism is a fundamental property of all matter, although it is
usually very weak. It is due to the non-cooperative behavior of orbiting
electrons when exposed to an applied magnetic field. Diamagnetic
substances are composed of atoms which have no net magnetic
moments (i.e., all the orbital shells are filled and there are no unpaired
electrons). However, when exposed to a field, a negative magnetization
is produced and thus the susceptibility is negative. If we plot M vs H:

The external field is zero the magnetization is zero.

The susceptibility is temperature independent. Some well known diamagnetic
substances: Water; quartz; Calcite
 Diamagnetism

 Magnetic susceptibility is negative and small

 Relative permeability of diamagnetic materials is slightly less than
unity
 When a diamagnetic substance such as a silicon crystal is placed in a
magnetic field, the magnetization vector M in the material is in the
opposite direction to the applied field μoH and the resulting field B

within the material is less than μoH.

 The negative susceptibility can be interpreted as the diamagnetic

substance trying to expel the applied field from the material
 Diamagnetism

Diamagnetic material placed in a non-uniform magnetic field

experiences a force toward smaller fields. This repels the

diamagnetic material away from a permanent magnet.

 Paramagnetism
This class of materials, some of the atoms or ions in the material have a
net magnetic moment due to unpaired electrons in partially filled
orbitals. One of the most important atoms with unpaired electrons is
iron. However, the individual magnetic moments do not interact
magnetically, and like diamagnetism, the magnetization is zero when the
field is removed. In the presence of a field, there is a partial alignment of
the atomic magnetic moments in the direction of the field, resulting in a
net positive magnetization and positive susceptibility.

In addition, 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.
 Paramagnetism

A paramagnetic material placed in a

nonuniform magnetic field experiences a
force toward greater fields. This attracts the
paramagnetic material (e.g., liquid oxygen)
toward a permanent magnet.

Effect of Temperature and Susceptibility

 Ferromagnetism

 Ferromagnetic atoms have many unpaired electrons: atom results

partly from orb, mainly from spin (spin parallel)
The isolated Fe atom has four unpaired

 Materials: transition metals (incomplete d shells—Fe, Co, Ni),

lanthanoids, actinoids (incomplete f shells—Gd, Dy)

Character:
 Effect very strong, results in intense external magnetic field
 Dipoles alignment destroyed at high temperature due to
thermal agitation
 Above Curie temperature TC, ferromagnet becomes
paramagnet (dipoles disorder)
 Curie Temperature
Even though electronic exchange forces in ferromagnets are very
large, thermal energy eventually overcomes the exchange and
produces a randomizing effect. This occurs at a particular
temperature called the Curie temperature (TC). Below the Curie
temperature, the ferromagnet is ordered and above it, disordered.
The saturation magnetization goes to zero at the Curie
temperature. A typical plot of magnetization vs temperature for
magnetite is shown below.
 Ferromagnetism

Character: Absence of field:

 well above TC, ferromagnet obeys Curie-Weiss law

𝐶
𝜒= C is the Curie of specific material, T is the
𝑇 −𝜃 absolute temperature, θ Curie temperature or Tc

In a magnetized region of a ferromagnetic

material such as iron, all the magnetic
moments are spontaneously aligned in the
same direction.

There is a strong magnetization vector M

even in the absence of an applied field
 Anti-Ferromagnetism
 Similar in principle to ferro, but dipoles align in opposite direction
such that they completely cancel, effectively no magnetic moment
 Materials: mostly oxides of transition metals

Origin:
• magnetic ordering (destructive)
• (in oxides) superexchange

In this antiferromagnetic BCC crystal

(Cr) the magnetic moment of the
center atom is cancelled by the
magnetic moments of the corner
atoms (an eighth of the corner atom
belongs to the unit cell).
 Anti-Ferromagnetism
 Antiferromagnetic materials possess a magnetic ordering in which the
magnetic moments of alternating atoms in the crystals align in
opposite directions, as schematically depicted .
 The opposite alignments of atomic magnetic moments are due to
quantum mechanical exchange forces.
 The net result is that in the absence of an applied field, there is no net
magnetization.
 Antiferromagnetism occurs below a critical temperature called the
Néel temperature TN.
 Above TN, antiferromagnetic material becomes paramagnetic.
 Ferrimagnetism
 Ferrimagnetic materials such as ferrites (example - Fe3O4) exhibit
magnetic behavior similar to ferromagnetism below a critical
temperature called the Curie temperature TC
 Above TC they become paramagnetic

All A atoms have their spins aligned in one direction and all B
atoms have their spins aligned in the opposite direction. As the
magnetic moment of an A atom is greater than that of a B atom,
there is net magnetization M in the crystal
Classification of magnetic materials : based on magnetic susceptibility m
Classification of magnetic materials : based on magnetic susceptibility m
 Magnetization curves –Hysteresis Loop

This ability for a coil to retain some of its magnetism within the core after the
magnetization process has stopped is called Retentivity or remanence, while the
amount of flux density still remaining in the core is called Residual Magnetism, BR

The magnetizing field H required to totally demagnetize the sample is called the
coercivity or the coercive field. Some authors and various data sheets define Hc
as the intrinsic coercivity. It represents the resistance of the sample to
demagnetization.
 Soft and Hard Magnetic Materials
Cclassification based on readiness to magnetize/demagnetize

 soft = easy to
magnetize/demagnetize. Loss
(hysteresis, BHmax) is low,
suitable for applications
requiring repeated mag/demag
cycles (motors, transformers,
inductors...)

 hard = difficult to
agnetize/demagnetize. Loss is
high, suitable for permanent
magnets, data storage
(conventional HDD)
Importance of Hysteresis
 Applications of Ferrites
• Ferrites are used in thermal sensing switches used in refrigerators, air

conditioners, electronic ovens, etc.

• The magnetostrictive property of ferrites is utilized in producing ultrasonic

waves from a ferrite rod by the application of an alternating magnetic field.

• The insulating property of ferrites finds their use in electric motors; they are

also used as flat rings for loud speakers

• Some ferrites possess high rectangular hysteresis loop, so they are useful

in the construction of computer memory system for rapid storage and

retrieval of digital information.

• Mixed ferrites possess high resistivity and good magnetic Property

 Applications of Ferrites

Magnetic sensors: These are used for temperature control and these
can be made using ferrite with sharp and definite Curie temperature.
Position and rotational angle sensors (proximity switches) have also
been designed using ferrites.

Magnetic Shielding: A radar absorbing paint containing ferrite has

been developed to render an aircraft of submarine invisible to radar.

Pollution Control: There are several Japanese installations which use

precipitation of ferrite precursors to scavenge pollutant materials such
as mercury from waste streams. The ferrites produced subsequently can
be separated magnetically along with the pollutant.
 Applications of Ferrites
Power transformer and chokes: HF Power supplies and lighting balasts
Inductors Transformers: Frequency selective circuits
Pulse and wideband transformers: Matching devices
Magnetic deflection structures: TV sets and monitors
Recording heads: Storage devices
Transducers: Vending machines and ultrasonic cleaners
Catalysis: high surface area, controlled crystal surfaces
Optical properties: sun screen, hyperthermic cancer treatment, fluorescent
tags
Light scattering: smoke/fog screens
Drug delivery: inhalation asthma, timed drug release Pesticide delivery: fogging and
fumigation
Magnetic recording: orient magnetic domain axis, important for hard drives, video & audio
tapes Pigments, inks, paints: coloring and opacity