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MAGNETIC MATERIALS

Materials may be classified by their response to externally applied field.

1 Paramagnetism.
2 Diamagnetism.
3 Ferromagnetism.

1 Paramagnetism
Paramagnetism occurs in materials whose atoms have permanent magnetic dipole moments.
When these materials like Chromium, Tungsten and Magnesium are placed in the external
magnetic field then the resulting torque on the dipoles tends to align them with the field.

The dipoles rotate into the direction of the applied field. But the paramagnetic materials are not
so strongly align to the external field.
The direction of the magnetization is parallel to the applied field.
The net magnetization of the Paramagnetism is not zero.

2 Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism is a very weak form of magnetism that is non permanent and persists only while
an external field is being applied. It is induced by a change in the orbital motion of electrons due
to the applied magnetic field.
In 1847 Michael Faraday discovered that a specimen of Bismuth was repelled by a strong
magnet. He called such substance Diamagnetic. Diamagnetism is the property of an object where
the induced magnetic field is in opposition to the externally applied magnetic field thus causing a
repulsive effect.
The magnetic dipole moment in diamagnetism is aligned in a direction opposite to that of the
external applied magnetic field.
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They are very weakly magnetized. Diamagnetic materials are Bismuth, Copper, Mercury and
Carbon.

3 Ferromagnetism
Ferromagnetism also occurs in materials in which the atoms have permanent magnetic dipole
moments. They show large & permanent magnetization.
The important property of ferromagnetism is that there is a strong interaction between
neighboring atomic dipole moments that keep them aligned even when the external magnetic
field is removed.
Familiar ferromagnetic materials at room temperature include the elements Iron (Fe), Cobalt
(Co), Nickel (Ni) and Gadolium (Gd).
The dipole moments (µ) are strongly aligned with the external field. The dipole moments arise
because of spin when an electron combined with orbital angular momentum of electron.
The case of ferromagnetism is different from that of paramagnetism because here in the
ferromagnetic materials the dipole moments exists over relatively large volume regions of the
crystal called magnetic domains. The domains are of macroscopic size of the order of
millimeters or less but large enough to contain from 10 12 to 10 16 atoms. Each domain behaves
as a small magnet.
Within each domain the magnetic fields of the entire spinning electron are parallel to one another
i.e. each domain is magnetized to saturation value.
A non-magnetized bar of iron has the dipole moments in the domains but they are randomly
oriented.
But once they are magnetized then they are completely aligned with the external field.

B = External Field

After alignment with the external field the material has large magnetization.
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Effect of Temperature on Magnetization
Temperature can affect the magnetic characteristics of materials. By increasing the temperature
of magnetic materials can result in increased thermal motion of atoms which tends to randomize
the direction of magnetic moments.
With increasing temperature, the saturation magnetization diminishes gradually and then
abruptly drops to zero at what is called cutie temperature.

The temperature at which ferromagnetic material becomes paramagnetic is called its curie
temperature. The curie temperature of iron is 770 Co above this temperature iron is paramagnetic.

Tc

The Hysteresis Loop & Magnetic Properties

A great deal of information can be leaned about the magnetic properties of a material by studying
its hysteresis loop. a (saturation)
B or M =Magnetic Field
b

c f
-H H = External Field

d
Saturation in opposite
direction

To investigate the ferromagnetic material we insert an iron bar in A.C solenoid.

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We assume that the current is initially zero & that the iron is unmagnetized so that initially H
(Bo) applied field & magnetization field M or B are zero. We increase H by increasing the
current in the solenoid. At this time the alternating current in at appositive peak value. At point
'a' almost all of the magnetic domains are aligned.
On decreasing the current i.e. the applied field to zero, the magnetization does not retrace its
original path, because the aligned domains do not regain their random state of orientation easily.
There exists some non-zero magnetization even after removing the field altogether so the iron
remains magnetized at point b. this is referred to as the point of retentivity or remanence or level
of residual magnetism in the material.
To demagnetize the material, the magnetization current is reversed & increased to reduce the
magnetization to zero. (The direction of current is reversed) this field is known as the coercivity
or coercecive field and is denoted by Hc. This current is called coercive current.
To magnetize the material in the reverse direction, the applied field is again further negatively
increased. Which is shown by the curve at point d. if the current is then again decreased to zero,
the magnetization field B follows the portion de of the curve. It means there is still some
magnetization even at zero H. Finally point a can be reached again by applying a sufficiently
large positive value of H so that the materials follows efa.
The closed loop formed a, b, c, d efa is called hysterisis loop.