Classification of Magnetic Materials

Now, we are going to study the various types of magnetic materials in terms of the magnetic properties of the atomic dipoles and the interactions between them. Very first distinctions is based on whether the atoms carry permanent magnetic dipoles or not.

Materials not having permanent magnetic moment
Diamagnetic materials Materials which lack permanent dipoles or zero magnetic dipole moment are called Diamagnetic.
Materials having permanent magnetic moment
Paramagnetic material If the permanent dipoles do not interact among themselves, the material is Paramagnetic.
Ferromagnetic materials If the interaction among permanent dipoles is strong such that all the dipoles line up in parallel, the material is Ferromagnetic.
Antiferro magnetic or Ferrimagnetic materials. If the permanent dipoles line up in antiparallel direction, the material is Antiferromagnetic and Ferrimagnetic.

In antiferromagnetic materials the magnitudes of permanent dipoles aligned parallel and antiparallel are equal and hence the magnetization vanishes.

In ferrimagnetic materials, magnitudes of permanent dipoles aligned antiparallel are not equal thus exhibiting magnetization.

Read More Topics
Difference between intrinsic & extrinsic semiconductors
Variation of carrier concentration with temperature
Difference between N & P type semiconductor

About the author

Santhakumar Raja

Hi, This blog is dedicated to students to stay update in the education industry. Motivates students to become better readers and writers.

View all posts

Leave a Reply