Electromagnetism - Lecture 10

Magnetic Materials

• Magnetization Vector M
• Magnetic Field Vectors B and H
• Magnetic Susceptibility & Relative Permeability
• Diamagnetism
• Paramagnetism
• Effects of Magnetic Materials

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 Introduction to Magnetic Materials
There are three main types of magnetic materials with different
magnetic susceptibilities, χM :
• Diamagnetic - magnetization is opposite to external B
χM is small and negative.
• Paramagnetic - magnetization is parallel to external B
χM is small and positive.
• Ferromagnetic - magnetization is very large and non-linear.
χM is large and variable.
Can form permanent magnets in absence of external B
⇒ In this lecture Diamagnetism & Paramagnetism
Ferromagnetism will be discussed in Lecture 12

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 Magnetization Vector
The magnetic dipole moment of an atom can be expressed as an
integral over the electron orbits in the Bohr model:
Z
m= IAẑ
atom

The current and magnetic moment of the i-th electron are:

evi e
I= mi = IAẑ = Li
2πri 2me

The magnetic dipole density is the magnetization vector M:

dm e
M= = NA < Li >atom
dτ 2me

This orbital angular momentum average is also valid in quantum

mechanics

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Notes:

Diagrams:

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 Magnetization Currents
The magnetization vector M has units of A/m
The magnetization can be thought of as being produced by a
magnetization current density JM :
I Z
M.dl = JM .dS JM = ∇ × M
L A

For a rod uniformly magnetized along its length the magnetization

can be represented by a surface magnetization current flowing
round the rod:
JS = M × n̂

The distributions JM and JS represent the effect of the atomic

magnetization with equivalent macroscopic current distributions

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 Magnetic Field Vectors
Ampère’s Law is modified to include magnetization effects:
I Z
B.dl = µ0 (JC + JM ).dS ∇ × B = µ0 (JC + JM )
L A

where JC are conduction currents (if any)

Using ∇ × M = JM this can be rewritten as:

B
∇×(B − µ0 M) = µ0 JC ∇ × H = JC H= −M
µ0
B is known as the magnetic flux density in Tesla
H is known as the magnetic field strength in A/m
Ampère’s Law in terms of H is:
I Z
H.dl = JC .dS ∇ × H = JC
L A

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Notes:

Diagrams:

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 Relative Permeability
The magnetization vector is proportional to the external magnetic
field strength H:
M = χM H
where χM is the magnetic susceptibility of the material
Note - some books use χB = µ0 M/B instead of χM = M/H

The linear relationship between B, H and M:

B = µ0 (H + M)
can be expressed in terms of a relative permeability µr
B = µ r µ0 H µr = 1 + χM

General advice - wherever µ0 appears in electromagnetism,

it should be replaced by µr µ0 for magnetic materials

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 Diamagnetism
For atoms or molecules with even numbers of electrons the orbital
angular momentum states +Lz and −Lz are paired and there is
no net magnetic moment in the absence of an external field

An external magnetic field Bz changes the angular velocities:

eBz
ω 0 = ω ∓ ∆ω ∆ω =
2me
where ∆ω is known as the Larmor precession frequency
Can think of as effect of magnetic force, or as example of induction

For an electron pair in an external Bz , the electron with +Lz has

ω 0 = ω − ∆ω, and the electron with −Lz has ω 0 = ω + ∆ω
For both electrons magnetic dipole moment changes in −z direction!

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 Diamagnetic Magnetization
Change in orbital angular momentum of electron pair due to
Larmor precession frequency:
∆Lz = −2me r 2 ∆ω = −eBz r 2
and the induced magnetic moment of the pair:
e e2
m=− ∆Lz ẑ = − Bz r 2 ẑ
2me 2me
Averaging over all electron orbits introduces a geometric factor 1/3:
NA e 2 Z < r 2 > B
M = N A αM B = −
6me
where the atomic magnetic susceptibility is small and negative:
e2 Z < r 2 >
αM =− ≈ −5 × 10−29 Z
6me

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Notes:

Diagrams:

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Notes:

Diagrams:

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 Paramagnetism
Paramagnetic materials have atoms or molecules with a net
magnetic moment which tends to align with an external field
• Atoms with odd numbers of electrons have the magnetic
moment of the unpaired electron:
e
m= L
2me
• Ions and some ionic molecules have magnetic moments
associated with the valence electrons
• Metals have a magnetization associated with the spins of the
conduction electrons near the Fermi surface:
3Ne µ2B
M= B F = kTF ≈ 10eV
2kTF
where µB = eh̄/2me is the Bohr magneton

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Susceptibility of Paramagnetic Materials
The alignment of the magnetic dipoles with the external field is
disrupted by thermal motion:

N (θ)dθ ∝ e−U/kT sin θdθ U = −m.B = −mB cos θ

Expanding the exponent under the assumption that U  kT :

NA |m|2
M= B
3kT
Paramagnetic susceptibility χM is small and positive.
It decreases with increasing temperature:
2
 
|m|
χM = N A − αM
3kT
where the second term is the atomic susceptibility from the
diamagnetism of the paired electrons.

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 Energy Storage in Magnetic Materials
The inductance of a solenoid increases if the solenoid is filled with a
paramagnetic material:

L = µr µ0 n2 πa2 l = µr L0

Hence the energy stored in the solenoid increases:

1 2
U= LI = µr U0
2

The energy density of the magnetic field becomes:

dUM 1 B2 1
= = B.H
dτ 2 µr µ0 2

These are HUGE effects for ferromagnetic materials

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Notes:

Diagrams:

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