Observation of intrinsic magnetic domains in C-60 polymer

A C-60 polymer has been characterized for the first time with respect to impurity content and ferromagnetic properties by laterally resolved particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and magnetic force microscope (MFM) in order to detect intrinsic ferromagnetic domains, In parts of the pure regions (concentration of magnetic impurities <1 mug/g), we found stripe-domain magnetic images with different orientations of domain magnetization. The size of the regions where magnetic domains were observed is similar to30% of the pure region. All these results reveal that the polymerized C-60 sample is a mixture of magnetic and non-magnetic parts and only a fraction of the sample contributes to the ferromagnetism. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.