Fundamentals and Applications of Magnetic Materials

Book excerpt: Students and researchers looking for a comprehensive textbook on magnetism, magnetic materials and related applications will find in this book an excellent explanation of the field. Chapters progress logically from the physics of magnetism, to magnetic phenomena in materials, to size and dimensionality effects, to applications. Beginning with a description of magnetic phenomena and measurements on a macroscopic scale, the book then presents discussions of intrinsic and phenomenological concepts of magnetism such as electronic magnetic moments and classical, quantum, and band theories of magnetic behavior. It then covers ordered magnetic materials (emphasizing their structure-sensitive properties) and magnetic phenomena, including magnetic anisotropy, magnetostriction, and magnetic domain structures and dynamics. What follows is a comprehensive description of imaging methods to resolve magnetic microstructures (domains) along with an introduction to micromagnetic modeling. The book then explores in detail size (small particles) and dimensionality (surface and interfaces) effects — the underpinnings of nanoscience and nanotechnology that are brought into sharp focus by magnetism. The hallmark of modern science is its interdisciplinarity, and the second half of the book offers interdisciplinary discussions of information technology, magnetoelectronics and the future of biomedicine via recent developments in magnetism. Modern materials with tailored properties require careful synthetic and characterization strategies. The book also includes relevant details of the chemical synthesis of small particles and the physical deposition of ultra thin films. In addition, the book presents details of state-of-the-art characterization methods and summaries of representative families of materials, including tables of properties. CGS equivalents (to SI) are included.