MAGNETIC MATERIALS

AND THEIR TYPES & PROPERTIES

An Introduction to magnetic materials

Magnetism is a phenomenon by which a material exerts either attractive
or repulsive force on another.
 Basic source of magnetic force is movement of electrically charged
particles. Thus magnetic behavior of a material can be traced to the
structure of atoms.
 Electrons in atoms have a planetary motion in that they go around the
nucleus. This orbital motion and its own spin cause separate magnetic
moments, which contributeto the magnetic behavior of materials. Thus
every material can respond to a magnetic field.
 However, the manner in which a material responds depend much on its
atomic structure, and determines whether a material will be strongly or
weakly magnetic.
Bohr Magneton
 Magneticmoment dueto spinof anelectron isknown asBohr
magneton, MB.
q
MB
h 9.274X1024A.m2

4
m
e

 whereqisthecharge onthe electron,h –

Planck’sconstant,me– massof electron.
 Bohrmagnetonisthe mostfundamentalmagnetic
moment.

Why not all materials are

magnets ?
 As every material consists spinning electrons,
each of them could be a magnet. Fortunately,
not so!
 Therearetworeasonsfor it.
 First: according to Pauli exclusion rule, two
electrons with same energy level must have
opposite spins – thus so are their magnetic
moments, which cancel out each other.
 Second: orbital moments of electrons also
cancel out each other – thus no net magnetic
moments if there is no unpaired electron(s).
Magnetic dipoles
 Magneticdipolesarefoundtoexistinmagneticmaterials,analogoustoelectric
dipoles.
 A magnetic dipole is a small magnet composed of north and south poles
instead ofpositive and negative charges.
 Withinamagneticfield,theforceoffieldexertsatorquethattendstoorientthe
dipoles with the filed.
 Magnetic forces are generated by moving electrically charged particles.
These forces are in addition to any electrostatic forces that may already
exist.
 Itisconvenienttothinkmagneticforcesintermsofdistributedfield,whichisrepres
ented by imaginary lines. These lines also indicate the direction of the force.

Origin of permanent magnetic moments in solids:

1. orbital magnetic moment of electrons

2. spin magnetic moment of electrons

3. spin magnetic moment of nucleus

We will consider only spin magnetic moment of electrons

 Figure .1 Origin of magnetic dipoles: (a) The spin of the electron produces a magnetic field
with a direction dependent on the quantum number m s. (b) Electrons Electrons orbiting
around the nucleus create a magnetic field around the atom.

Magnetic flux density (B): is defined as the number of magnetic field lines passing unit area of a
surface surrounding the source of magnetic field. Magnetic lines of force are expressed in units
of Weber and flux density has units of Weber/meter2 or Tesla.

Magnetic field strength (H): When a medium is exposed to a magnetic field of intensity H, it
causes an induction B in the medium. (i.e.)

or . where ‘’ is the permeability of the medium. If the surrounding medium is vacuum
or air, where ‘o’ is the permeability of vacuum. ‘H’ is expressed in units of A/m
(Ampere per meter).

Magnetization (M): When a material is placed in a magnetic field a net magnetic moment is
created due to all magnetic dipoles. Magnetization is defined as the magnetic moment per unit
volume. It has the same unit as ‘H’.

Magnetic permeability (r) and susceptibility (m):

These quantities denote the ease with which a material allows magnetic lines of force to
pass through it.
for a magnetic material and for air or vacuum.

One defines a ratio

as the relative permeability of the medium with respect to that of vacuum.

Magnetization of a material is proportional to the magnetic field intensity applied. (i.e.)

or , where m is defined as the susceptibility. It is a dimensionless
quantity.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN B, H, M, r and :

Using we get

giving us

Figure 19.2 A current passing through a coil sets up a magnetic field H with a flux density B.
The flux density is higher when a magnetic core is placed within the coil.

Bohr magneton mB
The magnetic moment due to spin of a single electron is called the Bohr magneton mB

mB= 9.273 x 10-24 A m2

Net moment of two electrons of opposite spins = 0

 Type of Magnetic Materials:
• Soft Magnetic materials

• Hard magnet

Classification of Magnetic Materials

• Ferromagnetism

• Para Magnetism

• Diamagnetism

• Anti ferromagnetism

• Ferri magnetism

FERRO MAGNETISM:
It is a special case of Paramagnetism.

There is a special form of interaction called exchange coupling between adjacent dipoles coupling their
magnetic moments together in rigid parallelism. Domain structure is characteristic of Ferro-magnetism.
A specimen may have different domains and in each domain all the dipoles are in one direction.
Alignment of the magnetic moments of atoms in the same direction so that a net magnetization
remains after the magnetic field is removed.
1. Spontaneous magnetization is characteristic of Ferro-magnetism.
2. Hysteresis is exhibited.
3. It is a very strong effect; a Ferro-magnetic material is strongly attracted to a conventional
magnet.
4. Susceptibility is very large and depends on temperature.
5. Above a certain temperature ‘Tc’ called the Curie temperature, Ferro-magnetism is lost and
the material becomes paramagnetic.

ANTI FERRO MAGNETISM:

Like Ferro-magnetism, anti-Ferro-magnetism is associated with domain structure and exchange
coupling between adjacent spins but the alignment of spins within a domain is anti parallel.
The spins are of equal magnitude. So the net polarization in a domain is zero and over all
domains is very small.

As temperature increases this spin alignment is disturbed and magnetization increases. Beyond
a temperature called Neel temperature (TN), susceptibility drops.

1. Electron spins of neighboring atoms in a domain are aligned anti-parallel.

2. Anti-Ferro-magnetism depends on temperature.
3. Initially m increases slightly with temperature and beyond the Neel temperature it
decreases.
4. Above the Neel temperature susceptibility is given by

FERRI MAGNETISM:
This is a special case of anti-Ferro-magnetism. The net magnetization in a domain is not zero
since anti parallel spins are of different magnitude. This net magnetization disappears above a
Curie temperature analogous to the Neel temperature. Thermal energy randomizes the spin
orientations and the material becomes paramagnetic. Magnetic behavior obtained when ions in
a material have their magnetic moments aligned in an antiparallel arrangement such that the
moments do not completely cancel out and a net magnetization remains.
1. Ferri-magnetic materials possess net magnetic moment.
2. Above Curie temperature it becomes para –magnetic.
3. Susceptibility is very large.
4. Spin alignment is anti parallel of different magnitudes.
5. Ferri-magnetic materials behave like Ferro-magnetic materials and have hysteresis, domain
structure etc., but being oxide compounds they have large resistivities.
6. They are called Ferrites.
7. Above the Curie temp susceptibility is given by

DIA MAGNETISM: - The effect caused by the magnetic moment due to the orbiting
electrons, which produces a slight opposition to the imposed magnetic field.

1. An atom of this material has no magnetic dipole moment.

2. The effect is weak and often masked by other kinds of magnetism.
3. A Dia-magnet is weakly repelled by a normal magnet (which is Ferro-magnetic)
4. Permeability is less than 1 but only slightly.
5. Susceptibility is negative but only slightly.
6. Susceptibility is independent of temperature.
7. atomic orbitals are completely filled. (no electron is un-paired)

PARA MAGNETISM:
1. An atom of this material possesses a non-zero magnetic dipole moment.
2. In the absence of an applied magnetic field, all atomic dipoles are randomly oriented.
3. In a magnetic field dipoles tend to orient along the field direction.
4. It is weakly attracted to a conventional magnet (Ferro-magnet).
5. Susceptibility is slightly positive and depends inversely on temperature. ( )
6. Permeability is slightly greater than 1.
 Type of Magnetism
Atomic /
Susceptibility Magnetic Example / Susceptibility
Behavior

-2.74x10-
Small & Atoms have Au 6

Diamagnetism negative. no magnetic Cu -0.77x10-

moment 6

Atoms have 0.19x10-6

randomly β-Sn 21.04x10-
Small & 6
Paramagnetism oriented Pt
positive.
magnetic Mn 66.10x10-
6
moments

Large &
positive, Atoms have
function of parallel
Ferromagnetism aligned Fe ~100,000
applied field,
microstructure magnetic
dependent. moments

Atoms have
mixed
Small & parallel and
Antiferromagnetism anti-parallel Cr 3.6x10-6
positive.
aligned
magnetic
moments
Large &
positive, Atoms have
function of anti-parallel Ba
Ferrimagnetism aligned ~3
applied field, ferrite
microstructure magnetic
dependent moments
Figure 19.3 The effect of the core material on the flux density. The magnetic
moment opposes the field in diamagnetic materials. Progressively stronger
moments are present in paramagnetic, ferrimagnetic, and ferromagnetic
materials for the same applied field.
Figure 19.5 (a) A qualitative sketch of magnetic domains in a polycrystalline
material. The dashed lines show demarcation between different magnetic domains;
the dark curves show the grain boundaries. (b) The magnetic moments in adjoining
atoms change direction continuously across the boundary between domains.
SOFT & HARD MAGNETIC MATERIALS:

Hard magnets Soft magnets

================================================================

1. Have large hysteresis loss. 1. Have low hysteresis loss.

2. Domain wall moment is difficult 2. Domain wall moment is relatively

easier.

3. Coercivity & Retentivity are large 3. Coercivity & Retentivity are small.

4. Cannot be easily magnetized & demagnetized 4. Can be easily magnetized &

demagnetized.

5. Magneto static energy is large. 5. Magneto static energy is small.

6. Have small values of permeability and 6. Have large values of susceptibility

susceptibility. and permeability.

7. Used to make permanent magnets. 7. Used to make electromagnets.

8. Examples: Iron-nickel-aluminum alloys 8. Examples: Iron- silicon alloys

copper nickel iron alloys. ferrous- nickel alloys.

copper – nickel – cobalt alloys. ferrites, garnets.

FERRITES : (magnetic properties & applications)
Ferrites are ferri-magnetic materials, which have the chemical formula M2+Fe3+O2-, where M is a divalent

element like Fe, Co, Mn, Zn, Mg etc.

Ferrites have spinel structure. In this structure the oxygen atoms are closely packed in an fcc lattice and

the metallic ions occupy interstitial void spaces. The divalent ions occupy the A sites and the trivalent

the B sites.

For example FeO, Fe2O3 ferrite (Fe3O4 ) has 8 molecules in a unit cell. There are 32 divalent
oxygen ions, 16 trivalent iron ions and 8 divalent iron ions per unit cell. When the oxygen ions
arrange themselves in FCC structure 16 trivalent ions occupy B sites (octa hedral voids) and 8
divalent ions occupy A sites (tetrahedral voids). In the inverse spinel structure 8 trivalent ions
occupy all the A sites and the other 8 trivalent ions occupy half the number of B sites and 8
divalent ions occupy the rest of the B sites.
Magnetic Anisotropy:
Iron crystallizes in bcc crystal structure. All the dipoles in iron are aligned parallel to [100]
direction. Hence, when a magnetic field is applied along [100] direction of iron, it gets easily
magnetized. It reaches saturation magnetization even for a small value of magnetic field. On
the other hand when iron is magnetized by applying the field along the [111] direction, it
requires somewhat a larger value of magnetic field to magnetize it. Generally, it needs magnetic
field to magnetize along the [111] direction, nearly four times than that of the field required for
[100] direction, while the [110] direction of iron requires a medium value of magnetic field to
magnetize. This dependence of magnetic behavior on crystallographic directions is called
“magnetic anisotropy”. The magnetization of iron and nickel along different directions are
shown in below figures.

The direction [100] is the easiest direction of magnetization for iron. The direction [111] is
the hard direction. The direction [110] is the medium direction.
For nickel the easy direction is [111], the hard direction is [100]. The excess energy required
per unit volume of a substance to magnetize it along a particular direction with respect to an
easy direction is known as anisotropy energy.

Magnetostriction Effect:
The change in the dimension of a ferromagnetic material when it is magnetized is known as
magnetostriction. The deformation is different along different crystal directions but it is
independent of the direction of the applied field. Depending on the nature of the material the
dimension may either increase or decrease. For a nickel rod the length decreases while for a
permalloy the length increases in the presence of magnetic field.
When placed inside alternating field, the rod vibrates with a frequency twice that of the
frequency of alternating field. If the frequency of the alternating field coincides with the natural
frequency of vibration of the rod, due to resonance the amplitude of vibration increases. This
magnetostriction effect is used in generation of ultrasonic waves. Thus the magnetostriction
energy is the energy due to the mechanical stresses generated by domain rotation. The
magnetic permeability is related to magnetostriction. For high permeability materials
application, the magnetostriction effect must be small.
Energy product of magnetic material:
Hard magnetic materials possess very large coercivity and permanent magnetic fields. The
hard magnetic materials are used for processing the permanent magnets and hence the energy
stored in the magnetic materials is very large. The energy stored in the hard magnetic material
is used to do work. The energy stored in a magnetic material depends on the maximum area of
the rectangle that fits the B-H curve in second quadrant as shown in fig.
The energy stored in the magnetic material is approximately given by
Emax α BxHxV
Where B,H and V are the flux density, field and volume of the magnetic material. The magnetic
energy density is proportional to the product of B and H of the magnetic material and (BH) max
represents the maximum energy of the magnetic material. Therefore (BH) max is the important
parameter for comparing the hard magnetic materials.

Soft magnetic materials:

Both ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials are classified as either soft or hard on the
basis of their hysteresis characteristics.
Soft magnetic materials are used in applications requiring frequent reversals of the
directions of magnetization such as cores of transformers, motors, inductors and generators. In
soft magnetic materials the hysteresis losses must be small. More over the soft magnetic
materials must have a high initial permeability and a low coercivity. A material possessing these
properties can reach its saturation magnetization with low applied field. Consequently the area
is small and hysteresis loss also reduced.

Transformer Cores:
For transformer cores we use soft magnetic materials which are easily magnetized and
demagnetized. Ex: Iron-Silicon ally ( 97% Fe & 3% Si ).
In iron-silicon alloy, silicon increases the permeability, decreases hysteresis loss and eddy
current loss, its presence increases the electrical resistivity. It is useful to the magnetic
property, but decreases the ductility.
Single crystals of this alloy are magnetically anisotropic. But single crystals are very expensive
to prepare. So, for transformer cores, poly crystalline sheets of Fe-Si alloy, which are
anisotropic, are fabricated. Actually the grains in polycrystalline materials are randomly
oriented, due to this their properties are isotropic. But we can develop anisotropy in poly
crystalline materials via plastic deformation, for example by rolling.
 Rolling is the technique by which sheet transformer cores are fabricated. A flat sheet that
has been rolled is called rolling texture or rolling sheet i.e. all grains orient in the direction of
rolling. For this type of texture, during rolling operation, for most of the grains in the sheet, a
specific crystallographic plane (h k l) becomes aligned parallel or nearly parallel to the surface of
sheet. In addition a direction [u v w] in that plane lies parallel or nearly parallel to the rolling
direction.
Thus a rolling texture is indicated by the plane-direction combination (h k l)[u v w]. For body
centered cubic alloys including Fe-Si alloy, the rolling texture is (1 1 0)[0 0 1], which is
represented in below fig. Thus transformer cores of this iron-silicon alloy are fabricated such
the direction in which the sheet was rolled, is aligned parallel to the direction of applied
magnetic field.

Hard Magnetic Materials:

Hard magnetic materials are used in permanent magnets, which must have a high resistance
to demagnetization. Also a hard magnetic material has a high remanance, high coercivity, high
saturation flux density as well as a low initial permeability and high hysteresis energy losses.
The hysteresis curve for hard magnetic material is as shown in fig.
The two most important characteristics related to applications for these materials are the
coercivity and energy product (BH)max. The value of the energy product represents the amout of
energy required to demagnetize a permanent magnet. If (BH) max is large, that material will be
hard in terms of its magnetic characteristics.
Hysteresis behavior depends upon the movement of domain walls. The movement of
domain walls depends on the final microstructure i.e. the size, shape and orientation of crystal
domains and impurities. Of course, microstructure will depend upon how the material is
processed. The hard magnetic materials are prepared by heating the magnetic materials to the
required temperature and then suddenly cooling them by dipping in a cold liquid. In a hard
magnetic material, impurities are purposely introduced, to make it hard. Due to these
impurities domain walls can not move easily. In this way we can increase the coercivity and
decrease the susceptibility values by obstructing domain wall motion. So large external field is
required for demagnetization.
There are two types of hard magnetic materials. Those are
1. Conventional hard magnetic materials.
2. High energy hard magnetic materials.
Conventional hard magnetic materials: The hard magnetic materials which have the energy
product (BH)max values lie in between 2 and 80KJ/m3 are called conventional hard magnetic
materials.
Ex: In ferro magnetic materials Cu-Ni-Fe alloys, Al-Ni-Co alloys
 In hexagonal ferrites Barium hexagonal ferrite.
High energy hard magnetic materials: The magnetic materials which have energy product
(BH)max values lie above 80KJ/m3 are called high energy hard magnetic materials. These are
recently developed intermetallic compounds. They have variety of compositions.
Ex: Samarium-Cobalt magnets (SmCo5)
Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnets(Nd2Fe14B)
Samarium-Cobalt family:
Advantages: 1. Very high energy product (30MGOe)
2. Very high coercivity (10KOe)
3. Stable at high temperatures(3500C)
4. They are very resistant to corrosion.
Disadvantages: 1. They are most expensive
2. They are difficult to machine.
There are two compositions of Samarium-Cobalt magnets. They are Sm 1Co5 and Sm2Co17. The
excellent temperature stability can be increased by doping Gadolinium. The penalty of this
extra temperature stability becomes a slight loss in energy product.
The temperature stability, high coercivity and high energy product make the Gadolinium
doped Sm2Co17 an ideal permanent magnet. High energy product allows to reduce the magnet
volume and weight.
Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnet:
Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnet has energy product greater than Sm-Co magnet. It has
highest permanent magnetism.
Advantages: 1. They have high energy product (40MGOe)
2. High coercivity (15KOe)
3. Relatively easy to machine
4. They are relatively inexpensive.
Disadvantages: 1. They do not resist corrosion.
2. They are not stable above 1500C.
Most relay applications demand stable performance in the 200 0C range. Commercially
available Nd-Fe-B magnets can not reliably operate at these temperatures.
Motors:
The above high energy hard magnetic materials are used in motors. Motor converts
electrical energy into mechanical energy. Permanent magnets are far superior to
electromagnets in that their magnetic fields are continuously maintained, with out the
necessity of expending electrical power. Further more no heat is generated during operation.
Motors using permanent magnets are much smaller than their electromagnets motors.
Familiar motor applications: In cordless drills and screw drivers, in automobiles like fan motors,
washer, wiper, window winder, in audio and video recorders and in clocks, speakers in audio
systems, light weight earphones and computer peripherals.

New magnetic materials for relay designes:

Modern relays use permanent magnets. These magnets must maintain their strength under
all temperatures.
Samarium-cobalt magnets have demonstrated stable field strength into the range of 350 0C,
with a great reduction in magnetic volume and weight. Alloys of the lanthanide group on the
periodic table (rare earths) are the most advanced permanent magnetic materials.
Samarium-Cobalt family:
Advantages: 1. Very high energy product (30MGOe)
2. Very high coercivity (10KOe)
3. Stable at high temperatures(3500C)
4. They are very resistant to corrosion.
Disadvantages: 1. They are most expensive
2. They are difficult to machine.
There are two compositions of Samarium-Cobalt magnets. They are Sm 1Co5 and Sm2Co17. The
excellent temperature stability can be increased by doping Gadolinium. The penalty of this
extra temperature stability becomes a slight loss in energy product.
The temperature stability, high coercivity and high energy product make the Gadolinium
doped Sm2Co17 an ideal permanent magnet. High energy product allows to reduce the magnet
volume and weight.
Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnet:
Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnet has energy product greater than Sm-Co magnet. It has
highest permanent magnetism.
Advantages: 1. They have high energy product (40MGOe)
2. High coercivity (15KOe)
3. Relatively easy to machine
4. They are relatively inexpensive.
Disadvantages: 1. They do not resist corrosion.
2. They are not stable above 1500C.
Most relay applications demand stable performance in the 200 0C range. Commercially
available Nd-Fe-B magnets can not reliably operate at these temperatures.
Heavy rare earths lie Dysprosium, doped with Copper and Oxygen have shown substantial
increase in temperature stability.
 For relay designes high coercivity and temperature stabilization is essential. The magnet
must hold its strength under adverse conditions. If it does not, the relay will change in its
performance.
Until the doped temperature stabilized Nd-Fe-B is commercially available. Sm 2Co17 doped
with Gadolinium exhibits excellent magnetic properties for relays.
 Magnetic Recording and Reading:
The magnetic materials are used for the recording or reading of the audio and video signals
and as storage devices such as magnetic tapes, floppy disks and hard disks.

Recording head materials:

A recording head material should be made up of a soft magnetic material having low
coercivity and high saturation magnetization. Because its magnetization has to follow the input
signal [current or magnetic field strength].
Ex: Permalloy(Ni-Fe alloys), Sendust(Fe-Al-Si alloys)
Soft ferrites: Mn-Zn and Ni-Zn ferrites.

Recording process:
Magnetic recording of a signal on a tape or disk is shown in fig. The tape is a polymer packing
tape that has a coating of magnetic material on it. The audio signal or video signal to be
recorded is converted into current signal and is passed through a toroid type electromagnet,
with a small air gap.

Reading process:
The recording head used for recording on tape is also used for reading (or playing audio
cassette) the tape. The reading process in a tape is based on the principle of Faraday’s law of
induction. A portion of the magnetic field present in the tape penetrates through the recording
head when the tape is in touch with the head. As the tape is moving with a constant velocity,
voltage is induced due to change in magnetic field. This can be amplified and then converted
back into its original form.