Module 5: Magnetic and
Superconducting Materials
Magnetic Materials
5.1 Introduction
Matters are made up of atoms and atoms are made of nucleus and electrons. The electrons
move in circular path around the nucleus and constitute electric current loops. Due to the
orbital motion, each electron has a magnetic moment. Even if an electron is at rest, it has a
permanent angular momentum which arises due to the electron spin. Nucleus also posses a
finite magnetic moment, however the value is thousand order smaller than that of electrons.
The resultant magnetic moment of any atoms is a vector sum of all such magnetic moments.
Magnetic moments of the electrons of an atom have a tendency to cancel in pairs. E.g. in
Helium atom, the magnetic moment of two electron cancel each other and the net magnetic
moment is zero. In a number of atoms and ions the resultant magnetic moment is zero.
However, in some cases, its non zero. Those atoms or ions are represented by a magnetic
dipole with permanent magnetic moment.
5.2 Some Important Definitions
5.2.1 Magnetization
Matters are composed of large number of atoms. In general, the magnetic moment of the
atoms are randomly oriented and the net magnetic moment in any volume of the material is
zero. However, when the material is kept in an external magnetic field, torque acts on the
atomic dipoles and try to align them parallel to the direction of field. The thermal motion
of atoms frequently change the orientation and try to randomize the magnetic moment.
With the increase in magnetic field strength and if the temperature is decreased, the align-
103
Module 5 5.2. Some Important Definitions
ment becomes nearly perfect and the material becomes magnetically saturated. We define
a parameter, magnetization or Intensity of magnetization as the magnetic moment per unit
volume
−
→ Magnetic Moment 1 X
M= = m (5.1)
Volume V V
−
→
Here M is the total Magnetization, m is individual magnetic moment, and V is the total
volume. The unit of Magnetic moment is ampere meter2 . Hence the unit of Magnetization
is ampere meter−1 .
5.2.2 Magnetic Intensity H
When a magnetic field is applied to magnetic material, the material get magnetized. The
actual magnetic field inside the material will be the sum of applied magnetic field and the
magnetic field due to magnetization. Hence we can define a new parameter, magnetic inten-
→
−
sity H as
→
−
→
− B − →
H = −M (5.2)
µ0
→
− −
→
Here, B is the resultant magnetic field, M is magnetization. The unit of H is ampere meter−1
5.2.3 Magnetic Susceptibility
The intensity of magnetization of a material is directly proportional to the magnetic intensity.
Thus
−
→ →
−
M = χH (5.3)
The proportionality constant χ is called as susceptibility. It is a dimensionless constant.
5.2.4 Permeability
From equation 5.2,
→
−
→
− B − →
H = −M
µ0
→
− →
− −→
⇒ B = µ0 H + M
104 [Link]
Module 5 5.3. Classification of Magnetic materials
−
→
Substituting value of M from equation 5.3
→
− →
− →
−
⇒ B = µ0 H + χ H
→
− →
−
⇒ B = µ0 (1 + χ) H
We can write,
→
− →
−
B = µH (5.4)
Where, µ = µ0 (1 + χ) is a constant called Permeability.
In vacuum, there cant me magnetization. Hence M = 0 ⇒ χ = 0, which gives, µ = µ0 . We
can define relative permeability µr as
µ
µr = =1+χ (5.5)
µ0
5.3 Classification of Magnetic materials
Magnetic materials can be classified into the following major categories depending upon their
behavior in external magnetic field.
1. Paramagnetic
2. Diamagentic
3. Ferromagnetic
4. Anti Ferro magnetic
5. Ferri Magnetic
5.3.1 Paramagnetic materials
When a magnetic field aligns atomic dipoles in its direction, the magnetized material produces
an extra magnetic field in the material along the direction of applied field. The resultant
magnetic field in the material is greater than the applied field. The tendency to increase the
magnetic field due to magnetization is called paramagnetism and the materials which exhibit
paramagnetism is called paramagnetic materials. Figure 5.1 (a) and (b) shows the variation
of M with respect to H and variation of χ with respect to T. Para-magnetism is produced in
many materials like aluminium, calcium, titanium, alloys of copper, as well as some alloys
such as Nontronite (Fe-rich clay), Biotite (silicate), Siderite(carbonate), Pyrite (sulfide).
105 [Link]
Module 5 5.3. Classification of Magnetic materials
Figure 5.1: (a) M vs. H relation (b) χ vs. T graphs for a paramagnetic material
Properties
• In paramagnetic materials a small Magnetization Occurs in the direction of the field.
• Paramagnetic substances are weakly attracted by a magnet.
→
−
• The lines of magnetic field B become more dense.
• Magnetic susceptibility is small (∼ 10−3 to 10−5 ) but positive.
• Susceptibility is inversely proportional to absolute temperature.
• Relative permeability µr is slightly greater than 1.
• Paramagnetism can be observed in solids, liquids as well as gases.
5.3.2 Diamagnetic Material
In some materials, individual atoms do not have a net magnetic dipole moment. When these
materials are placed in a magnetic field, dipole moment are induced in the atoms by the
applied field. From Lenz’s law, the magnetic field due to the induced magnetic moment
opposes the original field. Hence the resultant field is smaller than the applied field. This
phenomenon is called as diamagnetism and the materials which exhibit diamagnetism are
called diamagnetic materials. Figure 5.2 (a) and (b) shows the variation of M with respect
to H and variation of χ with respect to T. Some example of diamagnetic materials are quartz
(SiO2 ), Calcite (CaCO3 ), water (H2 O), etc.
Properties
• In diamagnetic materials a small magnetization occurs opposite to the field.
• Diamagnetic substances are weakly repelled by a magnet.
106 [Link]
Module 5 5.3. Classification of Magnetic materials
Figure 5.2: (a) M vs. H relation (b) χ vs. T graphs for a diamagnetic material
→
−
• The lines of magnetic field B become less dense.
• Magnetic susceptibility is negative.
• Variation of Susceptibility χ is very small with temperature.
• Relative permeability µr is slightly less than 1.
• Diamagnetism can be observed in solids (Bi, Cu, Zn, Ag, Si, Ag and alumina), liquids
(mercury, water) as well as gases (He and Ar).
5.3.3 Ferromagnetic Materials
In some material, the permanent magnetic moments have strong tendency to align themselves
even without any external magnetic field. These type of materials are called as ferromagnetic
materials. Due to force between neighboring atoms, alignment takes place. This is called as
exchange coupling and can be explained only by quantum mechanics. Fe, Co, Ni, Gd are
good examples of ferromagnetic materials. Ferromagnetic materials are used in permanent
magnets.
Properties
• In ferromagnetic materials a large magnetization occurs in the direction of the field.
• Ferromagnetic substances are strongly attracted by a magnet.
→
−
• The lines of magnetic field B become more dense.
• Magnetic susceptibility is very large of the order of thousands.
• Variation of Susceptibility χ with temperature is a little complicated in ferromagnetic
material and is explained in Figure 5.3
• Relative permeability µr is also of the order of thousands.
107 [Link]
Module 5 5.3. Classification of Magnetic materials
Figure 5.3: a) M vs. H relation (b) χ vs. T graphs for a ferromagnetic material
• Diamagnetism can be only be observed in solids (Fe, Co, Ni, Gd, etc.)
When ferromagnetic materials are heated, it becomes paramagnetic at a certain temperature.
This temperature is called as Curie Temperature. Detail explanation is given in section 5.5.
Figure 5.4: Ordered arrangement of electron spin in Ferro, Antiferro and Ferri magnetic
materials
5.3.4 Antiferromagnetic Material
In an antiferromagnet the spins are ordered in an anti-parallel arrangement with zero net
magnetic moment. Figure 5.4 (b) shows the spin orientation in Antiferromagnetic materials.
In antiferromagnetic materials, which include certain metals and alloys in addition to some
ionic solids, the magnetism from magnetic atoms or ions oriented in one direction is canceled
out by the set of magnetic atoms or ions that are aligned in the reverse direction.
This spontaneous antiparallel coupling of atomic magnets is disrupted by heating and dis-
appears entirely above a certain temperature, called the Néel temperature, characteristic of
each antiferromagnetic material. At very low temperatures, the solid exhibits no response
108 [Link]
Module 5 5.4. Weiss theory of ferromagnetism
to the external magnetic field, because the antiparallel ordering of atomic magnets is rigidly
maintained. At higher temperatures, some atoms break free of the orderly arrangement and
align with the external field. Few examples are MnO, Cr, FeMn, Nio, etc.
5.3.5 Ferrimagnetic Materials
Figure 5.4 (c) shows the spin alignment in ferrimagnetic materials. Ferri-magnetism is similar
to antiferro magnetism in that the spins of different atoms or ions line up antiparallel. The
atoms with a smaller magnetic moment point in the opposite direction of the larger moments.
This arrangement is similar to that present in antiferromagnetic materials (Figure 5.4 (b)),
but in ferrimagnetic materials the net moment is nonzero because the opposed moments
differ in magnitude. Few examples of ferrimagnetic materials are Fe3 O4 , NiFe2 O4 , PbFe12 O19 ,
BaFe12 O19 .
5.4 Weiss theory of ferromagnetism
Figure 5.5: Domain formation in ferromagnetic materials
As described in section 5.3.3, the magnetic moment perfectly align themselves according to
the applied field. However, in normal unmagnetized state, the atom forms domains inside
the material as shown in figure 5.5. The atoms in any domain have magnetic moments in the
same direction giving a net large magnetic moment to the domain. Different domains have
different directions of magnetic moment and hence the atom remains unmagnetized. Size of
the domains may be as large as millimeter in linear dimension.
If a magnetic field is applied, two mechanism are most likely to happen.
• Domain Growth
• Domain Alignment
109 [Link]
Module 5 5.5. Curie’s Law
Figure 5.6: Qualitative description of domain growth and alignment
The domains which are aligned along the direction of the field grow in size and those opposite
to it get reduced as shown in figure 5.6 (b). This happens because the wall of the domains
move across the sample.
Domains may orient themselves in favor of applied field as shown in figure 5.6 (c). Due to
this domain character of ferromagnetic materials, even if a small magnetic field is applied,
it gives rise to large magnetization. The resultant field will be much larger than the applied
field in such type of materials.
5.5 Curie’s Law
Temperature plays a crucial role in magnetization. With increase in temperature, individual
atomic magnetic moment become more random, which decrease the magnetization. Hence
the susceptibility χ decreases as temperature T increases. Curie law states that, the suscep-
tibility χ varies inversely with absolute temperature for a paramagnetic material away from
saturation.
c
χ= (5.6)
T
Where c is Curie Constant.
When Ferromagnetic materials are heated. it becomes paramagnetic at a certain temperature
called as Curie Temperature. After that the susceptibility χ varies as
110 [Link]
Module 5 5.6. Hysteresis
c0
χ= (5.7)
T − Tc
0
Where c is a constant. Value of Tc is different for different materials.
5.6 Hysteresis
Figure 5.7: Magnetization (M) - Magnetic Field (H) Hysteresis curve for a ferromagnetic
material
The magnetization in ferromagnetic materials not only depends on magnetic intensity H but
also on previous history of the [Link] 5.7 shows a typical magnetization (M) vs.
magnetic intensity (H) for a ferromagnetic material. Magnetic hysteresis occurs when an
external magnetic field is applied to a ferromagnet. Due to the external field, the dipole
aligns. Part of the alignment will be retained even if the field is removed. To demagnetize it
requires heat or a magnetic field in the opposite direction.
For a demagnetized material at M = 0, H = 0. When the field increases, magnetization M
111 [Link]
Module 5 5.7. Soft and Hard Magnetic Materials
also increases rapidly as shown in path OA. To demagnetize it requires heat or a magnetic
field in the opposite direction. With further increase in field, magnetic saturation will be
reached. Now if the field is reduced, the magnetization also decreases but the path OA is not
retraced. At zero field, there is some magnetization still left in the material. The remaining
value of M at the point C is called as retentivity of the material.
To reduce the magnetization M to zero, field has to be applied in the opposite direction
to disalign the domains forcebly. The value of H needd to make M = 0 is called coercive
force. The coercive force is represented by the magnitude of H corresponding to OD. With
the increase in field in opposite direction, the materials get magnetized in the opposite di-
rection and it follows DE path and saturation will be obtained again for reverse field direction.
If the field will be made zero again, the magnetization M will follow path EF. If the field is
further increased in original direction, the point A is again reached via the path FGA. IF we
repeat the field so that H changes from +H0 to -H0 , the curve ACDEFGA is retraced.
On decreasing the field, the magnetization generally does not return to its original values.
This phenomenon is known as Hysteresis. The curve ACDEFGA is called as Hysteresis loop.
5.7 Soft and Hard Magnetic Materials
The basic difference between soft and hard magnetic materials is the value of retentivity,
coercive force and area of their M-H loop.
5.7.1 Hard Magnetic Material
They have high retentivity and coercive force. The area of hysteresis loop is also larger
for hard magnetic materials. Large magnetic field is required to magnetize these materials.
But once magnetized, the magnetization retains to a large extent even if the magnetic field
is removed because of their high retentivity. Furthermore, the magnetization is not easily
destroyed even if the material is exposed to stray reverse field because of their high coercive
force.
Hard magnetic materials are mainly used to manufacture permanent magnets. Some exam-
pled of hard magnetic materials are Iron-Nickel-Aluminum alloys, Copper-Nickel-Iron alloys,
112 [Link]
Module 5 5.7. Soft and Hard Magnetic Materials
Figure 5.8: M-H Loops of Hard Magnetic Materials
Tungsten steel, Ba-ferrite, etc. The M-H loop for hard magnetic material is shown in Figure
5.8
5.7.2 Soft Magnetic Material
Figure 5.9: M-H Loops of Soft Magnetic Materials
These materials have low retentivity and coercive force. The area of hysteresis curve is also
113 [Link]
Module 5 5.7. Soft and Hard Magnetic Materials
less as compared to hard magnetic materials. These materials can be easily magnetized and
demagnetized. Due to these properties, soft magnetic materials are used in electromagnets,
transformer coils, moving coil galvanometers. The M-H loop for soft magnetic material is
shown in Figure 5.9
114 [Link]
Module 5 5.8. Introduction
Superconductivity
5.8 Introduction
Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical
resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Superconductor
has a characteristic critical temperature below which the resistance drops abruptly to zero.
Figure 5.10: Resistivity Vs. Temperature graph for Normal conductor and
Superconductor
Superconductivity phenomenon was discovered in 1911 by physicist Kamerlingh Onnes while
he was performing low temperature resistivity measurement in Mercury (Hg). He observed
that at temperature around 4.2K, there is a abrupt decrease in resistivity value. Table 5.1
shows various type of materials along with their transition temperature
Table 5.1: Some Superconducting materials and their transition temperature
Transition
Sl No. Material Type
Temperature (TC )
1 Hg 4.2 K Metal
2 Pb 6.2 k Metal
3 Nb 9.2 K Metal
4 V3 Si 17 K Inter-metallic compound
5 Nb - Ti 10 K Alloy
115 [Link]
Module 5 5.9. Meissner ’s Effect
5.9 Meissner ’s Effect
The Meissner effect is the expulsion of a magnetic field from a superconductor during its
transition to the superconducting state when it is cooled below the critical temperature.
Figure 5.11: Meissner’s Effect
Figure 5.11 demonstrate the Meissner’s effect. When an superconducting sample whose
temperature is less than critical temperature is placed in a magnetic field, the magnetic flux
will be expelled by the sample. A superconductor with little or no magnetic field within it is
said to be in the Meissner state. The Meissner state breaks down when the applied magnetic
field is too strong.
5.9.1 Superconductors are perfect diamagnets
It can be easily proved that superconductors are perfect diamagnets.
~ as
The expression for magnetic field B
→
− →
− − →
B = µ0 H + M
116 [Link]
Module 5 5.10. Critical Field and Critical Temperature
~ = 0,
As in Superconductors B
→
− − →
H +M =0
→
− −
→
H = −M
−
→
M
Hence Susceptibility χ = →
− = -1 (Negative) Which prove that Superconductors are perfect
H
diamagnets.
5.10 Critical Field and Critical Temperature
Superconducting state in materials can be destroyed by applying magnetic field as well as by
increasing the temperature. The relation between the critical field and critical temperaute
is given by the following equation
T2
HC = HC (0) 1 − 2 (5.8)
TC
Where TC is transition temperature, T is measured temperature, HC (0) is Critical Field at
0K and HC is Critical field at temperature T
Figure 5.12: Critical field and Critical Temperature
5.11 Type - I and Type - II Superconductor
117 [Link]
Module 5 5.12. BCS theory
Figure 5.13: Type - I and Type - II Superconductors
Type - I Superconductor Type - II Superconductor
Type-II superconductor exhibits an
In type-I superconductors,
intermediate phase of mixed ordinary
superconductivity is abruptly destroyed
and superconducting properties at
when the strength of the applied field
intermediate temperature and fields
rises above a critical value HC .
above the superconducting phases.
Type-II superconductors do not exhibit a
They strictly follow Meissner’s effect.
complete Meissner effect.
Low critical temperature (typically in the High critical temperature (typically
range of 0K to 10K) greater than 10K)
Easily lose the superconducting state by Does not easily lose the superconducting
low-intensity magnetic field. Therefore, state by external magnetic field.
type-I superconductors are also known as Therefore, type-II superconductors are
soft superconductors. also known as hard superconductors.
Type-I superconductors are generally Type-II superconductors are generally
pure metals. alloys and complex oxides of ceramics.
Examples: Hg, Pb, Zn,etc. Examples: NbTi, Nb3Sn, etc.
5.12 BCS theory
BCS theory named after John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer is the first
microscopic theory of superconductivity. It was proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer
in 1957; they received the Nobel Prize in Physics for this theory in 1972.
The BCS theory can be summarized as
• BCS theory starts from the assumption that there is some attraction between electrons,
which can overcome the Coulomb repulsion when the temperature is very low.
118 [Link]
Module 5 5.13. High TC Superconductors
• The attractive interaction between electrons (necessary for pairing) is brought about
indirectly by the interaction between the electrons and the vibrating crystal lattice.
• The electrons stay paired together and resist all kicks, and the electron flow as a whole
(the current through the superconductor) will not experience resistance.
BCS theory correctly predict the Meissner effect, i.e. the expulsion of a magnetic field from
the superconductor and the variation of the penetration depth. It also describes the variation
of the critical magnetic field (above which the superconductor can no longer expel the field
but becomes normal conducting) with temperature.
5.13 High TC Superconductors
High-temperature superconductors are operatively defined as materials that behave as super-
conductors at temperatures above 77 K. The majority of high-temperature superconductors
are ceramic materials. The major advantage of high-temperature ceramic superconductors
is that they can be cooled by using liquid nitrogen. The main class of high-temperature
superconductors are in the class of copper oxides. Table 5.2 shows some ceramic materials
along with their transition temperature.
Table 5.2: List of some High TC Superconductors
Sl. No. Material Transition Temperature
1 YBa2 Cu3 O7 90 K
2 Tl2 Ba2 Ca2 Cu3 O10 120 K
3 (CuO2 )BaO2 TlO2 82 K
4 (CuO2 )2 CaBaO2 TlO2 109 K
5.14 Application of Superconductors
Application of Superconductors are limited these days as it is very difficult to maintain the
low temperature states. However these materials find their applications in various fields.
Superconducting mateterials are used
1. For manufacturing powerful superconducting electromagnets which are used in maglev
trains, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
machines.
2. Low-loss power cables.
119 [Link]
Module 5 5.14. Application of Superconductors
3. High sensitivity particle detectors
4. The production of sensitive magnetometers based on SQUIDs.
5. Electric power transmission
120 [Link]
