Introduction to Magnetic Materials

Abstract

Almost everyone knows about magnetic materials and the magnetic force, but very few are familiar with the underlying mechanisms that cause the magnetic force. The existence of an inextricable correlation between electricity and magnetism is the key to understanding this phenomenon. In general, the magnetic materials in the micro or macroscopic scale are classified into five distinct groups based on their response to an externally applied magnetic field. They are diamagnetic, paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, anti-ferromagnetic, and ferromagnetic. Understanding the concept of the intrinsic and extrinsic properties of magnetic materials is important to handle the microstructure and thus their application. The intrinsic properties of a material are typically dependent on the chemistry and crystal structure such as crystal anisotropy, magnetostriction, and magnetostatic energy. While the extrinsic parameters such as pores, inclusions, and the nature of grain boundaries are highly microstructure sensitive.