Magnetic properties of fine iron particles

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Iron particles were prepared by a gas evaporation method in a nitrogen atmosphere. The particle size, shape, and magnetic properties were influenced by the nitrogen pressure. Particles prepared by this method were relatively stable in air and were not seriously oxidized. The recoilless fraction is low for the oxide layer, so that it cannot be detected at room temperature by Mössbauer spectrum. A superparamagnetic peak associated with the oxide microcrystal layer did not occur in the Mössbauer spectra due to the action of the magnetic field from the iron core and the interaction between iron particles and the low Debye temperature. From the electron micrography, the magnetic reversal process seems to be determined by a chain‐of‐spheres mechanism but Hc∼T curve cannot coincide with the Ms∼T curve at low temperatures. An increase of Hc may be associated with magnetic anisotropy. It is found that the magnetization versus temperature shows an anomalous increase in M(T) at higher T. We think that this means that the surface oxide layer was not magnetized to saturation even under 40 kOe at 5.5 K as the surface anisotropy is rather large.