Ferrite (magnet) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

s consisting of ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

materials with iron(III) oxide

Iron(III) oxide

Iron oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Fe2O3. It is one of the three main oxides of iron, the other two being iron oxide , which is rare, and iron oxide , which also occurs naturally as the mineral magnetite. As the mineral known as hematite, Fe2O3 is the main...

(Fe₂O₃) as their principal component. Many of them are magnetic materials and they are used to make permanent magnets, ferrite core

Ferrite core

A ferrite core is a structure on which the windings of electric transformers and other wound components such as inductors are formed. It is used for its properties of high magnetic permeability coupled with low electrical conductivity .There are two broad applications for ferrite cores which...

s for transformer

Transformer

A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...

s, and in various other applications.

Many ferrites are spinel

Spinel

Spinel is the magnesium aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula MgAl2O4. Balas ruby is an old name for a rose-tinted variety.-Spinel group:...

s with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

AB₂O₄, where A and B represent various metal cations, usually including iron. Spinel ferrites usually adopt a crystal motif consisting of cubic close-packed (fcc) oxides (O²⁻) with A cations occupying one eighth of the tetrahedral holes and B cations occupying half of the octahedral holes—that is, the inverse spinel structure.

The magnetic material known as "ZnFe" has the formula ZnFe₂O₄, with Fe³⁺ occupying the octahedral sites and half of the tetrahedral sites. The remaining tetrahedral sites in this spinel are occupied by Zn²⁺.

Some ferrites have hexagonal crystal structure, e.g. barium ferrite BaO:6Fe₂O₃ or BaFe₁₂O₁₉.

Properties

Ferrites are usually non-conductive ferrimagnetic

Ferrimagnetism

In physics, a ferrimagnetic material is one in which the magnetic moments of the atoms on different sublattices are opposed, as in antiferromagnetism; however, in ferrimagnetic materials, the opposing moments are unequal and a spontaneous magnetization remains...

ceramic compounds derived from iron oxide

Iron oxide

Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...

s such as hematite

Hematite

Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...

(Fe₂O₃) or magnetite

Magnetite

Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...

(Fe₃O₄) as well as oxides of other metals. Ferrites are, like most other ceramics, hard and brittle

Brittle

A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it breaks without significant deformation . Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior to fracture, even those of high strength. Breaking is often accompanied by a snapping sound. Brittle materials include most ceramics and glasses ...

. In terms of their magnetic properties, the different ferrites are often classified as "soft" or "hard", which refers to their low or high magnetic coercivity

Coercivity

In materials science, the coercivity, also called the coercive field or coercive force, of a ferromagnetic material is the intensity of the applied magnetic field required to reduce the magnetization of that material to zero after the magnetization of the sample has been driven to saturation...

Soft ferrites

Ferrites that are used in transformer

Transformer

or electromagnetic

Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...

cores

Magnetic core

A magnetic core is a piece of magnetic material with a high permeability used to confine and guide magnetic fields in electrical, electromechanical and magnetic devices such as electromagnets, transformers, electric motors, inductors and magnetic assemblies. It is made of ferromagnetic metal such...

contain nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

, zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

, and/or manganese

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

compounds. They have a low coercivity

Coercivity

and are called soft ferrites. The low coercivity means the material's magnetization

Magnetization

In classical electromagnetism, magnetization or magnetic polarization is the vector field that expresses the density of permanent or induced magnetic dipole moments in a magnetic material...

can easily reverse direction without dissipating much energy (hysteresis losses), while the material's high resistivity

Resistivity

Electrical resistivity is a measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows the movement of electric charge. The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm metre...

prevents eddy current

Eddy current

Eddy currents are electric currents induced in conductors when a conductor is exposed to a changing magnetic field; due to relative motion of the field source and conductor or due to variations of the field with time. This can cause a circulating flow of electrons, or current, within the body of...

s in the core, another source of energy loss. Because of their comparatively low losses at high frequencies, they are extensively used in the cores of RF

Radio frequency

Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...

transformers and inductor

Inductor

An inductor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in a magnetic field. An inductor's ability to store magnetic energy is measured by its inductance, in units of henries...

s in applications such as switched-mode power supplies

Switched-mode power supply

A switched-mode power supply is an electronic power supply that incorporates a switching regulator in order to be highly efficient in the conversion of electrical power...

.

The most common soft ferrites are:

Manganese-zinc ferrite (MnZn, with the formula ). MnZn have higher permeability
Permeability (electromagnetism)
In electromagnetism, permeability is the measure of the ability of a material to support the formation of a magnetic field within itself. In other words, it is the degree of magnetization that a material obtains in response to an applied magnetic field. Magnetic permeability is typically...

and saturation induction than NiZn.
Nickel-zinc ferrite (NiZn, with the formula ). NiZn ferrites exhibit higher resistivity than MnZn, and are therefore more suitable for frequencies above 1 MHz.

Hard ferrites

In contrast, permanent ferrite magnet

Magnet

A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...

s are made of hard ferrites, which have a high coercivity

Coercivity

and high remanence

Remanence

Remanence or remanent magnetization is the magnetization left behind in a ferromagnetic material after an external magnetic field is removed. It is also the measure of that magnetization. Colloquially, when a magnet is "magnetized" it has remanence...

after magnetization. These are composed of iron and barium

Barium

Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...

or strontium

Strontium

Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...

oxides. The high coercivity means the materials are very resistant to becoming demagnetized, an essential characteristic for a permanent magnet. They also conduct magnetic flux

Magnetic flux

Magnetic flux , is a measure of the amount of magnetic B field passing through a given surface . The SI unit of magnetic flux is the weber...

well and have a high magnetic permeability. This enables these so-called ceramic magnets to store stronger magnetic field

Magnetic field

A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...

s than iron itself. They are cheap, and are widely used in household products such as refrigerator magnet

Refrigerator magnet

A refrigerator magnet is an ornament, often whimsical, attached to a small magnet which is used to post items such as shopping lists or report cards on a refrigerator door, or which simply serves as decoration. Refrigerator magnets come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including but not...

s. The maximum magnetic field B is about 0.35 tesla

Tesla (unit)

The tesla is the SI derived unit of magnetic field B . One tesla is equal to one weber per square meter, and it was defined in 1960 in honour of the inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla...

and the magnetic field strength H is about 30 to 160 kiloampere turns per meter (400 to 2000 oersted

Oersted

Oersted is the unit of magnetizing field in the CGS system of units.-Difference between cgs and SI systems:...

s). The density of ferrite magnets is about 5g/cm³.

The most common hard ferrites are:

Strontium ferrite, SrFe₁₂O₁₉ (SrO·6Fe₂O₃), a common material for permanent magnet applications.
Barium ferrite
Barium ferrite
Barium ferrite, abbreviated BaFe, is the chemical compound with the formula BaFe2O4. This and related ferrite materials are components in magnetic stripe cards. BaFe is described as Ba2+24. The Fe3+ centers, with a high-spin d5 configuration, are ferromagnetically coupled...

, BaFe₁₂O₁₉ (BaO·6Fe₂O₃), a common material for permanent magnet applications. Barium ferrites are robust ceramics that are generally stable to moisture and corrosion-resistant. They are used in e.g. subwoofer
Subwoofer
A subwoofer is a woofer, or a complete loudspeaker, which is dedicated to the reproduction of low-pitched audio frequencies known as the "bass". The typical frequency range for a subwoofer is about 20–200 Hz for consumer products, below 100 Hz for professional live sound, and below...

magnets and as a medium for magnetic recording, e.g. on magnetic stripe card
Magnetic stripe card
A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card...

s.
Cobalt ferrite, CoFe₂O₄ (CoO·Fe₂O₃), used in some media for magnetic recording.

Production

Ferrites are produced by heating an intimate mixture of powdered precursors pressed into a mold. During the heating process, calcination of carbonate

Carbonate

In chemistry, a carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, . The name may also mean an ester of carbonic acid, an organic compound containing the carbonate group C2....

s occurs:

MCO₃ → MO + CO₂

The oxides of barium and strontium are typically supplied as their carbonates, BaCO₃

Barium carbonate

Barium carbonate , also known as witherite, is a chemical compound used in rat poison, bricks, ceramic glazes and cement.Witherite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system...

or SrCO₃

Strontium carbonate

Strontium carbonate is the carbonate salt of strontium that has the appearance of a white or grey powder. It occurs in nature as the mineral strontianite.- Chemical properties :...

.
The resulting mixture of oxides undergoes sintering

Sintering

Sintering is a method used to create objects from powders. It is based on atomic diffusion. Diffusion occurs in any material above absolute zero, but it occurs much faster at higher temperatures. In most sintering processes, the powdered material is held in a mold and then heated to a temperature...

. Sintering is a high temperature process similar to the firing of ceramic ware.

Afterwards, the cooled product is milled to particles smaller than 2 µm, small enough that each particle consists of a single magnetic domain

Single domain (magnetic)

Single domain, in magnetism, refers to the state of a ferromagnet in which the magnetization does not vary across the magnet. A magnetic particle that stays in a single domain state for all magnetic fields is called a single domain particle . Such particles are very small...

. Next the powder is pressed into a shape, dried, and re-sintered. The shaping may be performed in an external magnetic field, in order to achieve a preferred orientation of the particles (anisotropy

Anisotropy

Anisotropy is the property of being directionally dependent, as opposed to isotropy, which implies identical properties in all directions. It can be defined as a difference, when measured along different axes, in a material's physical or mechanical properties An example of anisotropy is the light...

).

Small and geometrically easy shapes may be produced with dry pressing. However, in such a process small particles may agglomerate and lead to poorer magnetic properties compared to the wet pressing process. Direct calcination and sintering without re-milling is possible as well but leads to poor magnetic properties.

Electromagnets are pre-sintered as well (pre-reaction), milled and pressed. However, the sintering takes place in a specific atmosphere, for instance one with an oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

shortage. The chemical composition and especially the structure vary strongly between the precursor and the sintered product.

To allow efficient stacking of product in the furnace during sintering and prevent parts sticking together, many manufacturers separate ware using ceramic powder separator sheets. These sheets are available in various materials such as alumina, zirconia and magnesia. They are also available in fine medium and coarse particle sizes. By matching the material and particle size to the ware being sintered, surface damage and contamination can be reduced while maximizing furnace loading.

Uses

Ferrite cores

Ferrite bead

A ferrite bead is a passive electric component used to suppress high frequency noise in electronic circuits. It is a specific type of electronic choke. Ferrite beads employ the mechanism of high dissipation of high frequency currents in a ferrite to build high frequency noise suppression devices...

are used in electronic inductor

Inductor

s, transformer

Transformer

s, and electromagnet

Electromagnet

An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. The magnetic field disappears when the current is turned off...

s where the high electrical resistance

Electrical resistance

The electrical resistance of an electrical element is the opposition to the passage of an electric current through that element; the inverse quantity is electrical conductance, the ease at which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with the mechanical...

of the ferrite leads to very low eddy current

Eddy current

losses. They are commonly seen as a lump in a computer cable, called a ferrite bead

Ferrite bead

, which helps to prevent high frequency electrical noise (radio frequency interference) from exiting or entering the equipment.

Early computer memories

Computer memory

In computing, memory refers to the physical devices used to store programs or data on a temporary or permanent basis for use in a computer or other digital electronic device. The term primary memory is used for the information in physical systems which are fast In computing, memory refers to the...

stored data in the residual magnetic fields of hard ferrite cores, which were assembled into arrays of core memory. Ferrite powders are used in the coatings of magnetic recording tapes

Magnetic tape

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...

. One such type of material is iron (III) oxide.

Ferrite particles are also used as a component of radar-absorbing materials or coatings used in stealth aircraft and in the absorption tiles lining the rooms used for electromagnetic compatibility

Electromagnetic compatibility

Electromagnetic compatibility is the branch of electrical sciences which studies the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy with reference to the unwanted effects that such energy may induce...

measurements.

Most common radio magnets, including those used in loudspeakers, are ferrite magnets. Ferrite magnets have largely displaced Alnico

Alnico

Alnico is an acronym referring to iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium , nickel and cobalt , hence al-ni-co, with the addition of copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, with a high coercivity and are used to make permanent magnets...

magnets in these applications.

It is a common magnetic material for electromagnetic instrument pickups, because of price and relatively high output. However, such pickups lack certain sonic qualities found in other pickups, such as those that use Alnico alloys or more sophisticated magnets.

Ferrite nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles are a class of nanoparticle which can be manipulated using magnetic field. Such particles commonly consist of magnetic elements such as iron, nickel and cobalt and their chemical compounds. While nanoparticles are smaller than 1 micrometer in diameter , the larger microbeads...

exhibit superparamagnetic properties.

External links

Sources

MMPA 0100-00, Standard Specifications for Permanent Magnet Materials
Meeldijk, Victor Electronic Components: Selection and Application Guidelines, 1997 Wiley ISBN 0-471-18972-3
Ott, Henry Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems 1988 Wiley ISBN 0-471-85068-3
Luecke, Gerald and others General Radiotelephone Operator License Plus Radar Endorsement 2004, Master Pub. ISBN 0-945053-14-2
Bartlett, Bruce and others Practical Recording Techniques 2005 Focal Press [ISBN 0-240-80685-9]
Schaller, George E. Ferrite Processing & Effects on Material Performance

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