ABSTRACT

Magnetic materials can be described as an assembly of magnetic moments produced by electron spins on the magnetic ions in the material. At low temperatures, the spins are all parallel to one another in a ferromagnet, and antiparallel in an antiferromagnet. If the spins are canted, or the number of parallel spins is di erent from that of anti-parallel spins, the result is a ferrimagnet. Except for the anti-ferromagnet, the material can have a net magnetic moment in the absence of an external eld.