Thermoremanent magnetization of multidomain hematite -: art. no. B09104

We have studied thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) produced by fields of 10-140 mu T in the (0001) basal plane of a 10 x 6 x 2 mm natural single crystal of hematite, both before and after zero-field cycling through the Morin transition at T-M = 260 K. Stepwise thermal demagnetization of TRM indicated high-unblocking temperatures between 680 degrees C and the Curie-Neel temperature T-N = 690 degrees C. In contrast, TRM was easily demagnetized by alternating fields, TRM intensity decreasing exponentially with increasing field in typical multidomain fashion. The observed 100-mu T M-TRM is 1.1 kA/m. This strong TRM, almost equal to the saturation remanence, results from hematite's weak internal demagnetizing field. Domain walls move almost unhindered to their limiting positions, and TRM intensity approaches saturation. On cooling through T-M, spins rotate to the antiferromagnetic c axis, and hematite's weak ferromagnetism is largely lost. However, on reheating in zero field through T-M, as the spins rotate back into the basal plane, a memory remanence is regenerated in the original TRM direction. This TRM memory was about 25% of M-TRM for our crystal and was even more resistant to thermal demagnetization than the original TRM. The 25% memory of TRM is similar to that of 0.12- to 0.42-mm single-domain hematites. High-unblocking-temperature TRM and TRM memory must be due to magnetoelastic pinning of spins in the basal plane by lattice defects, because both TRM and memory decrease with high-temperature treatment, which anneals out defects. The memory phenomenon seems to be in essence an amplification of residual magnetism that survives below the Morin transition. Remanence produced in a demagnetized sample below T-M and room temperature remanence that has been cooled through T-M increase in identical ways on warming through the transition. We propose that small regions of canted spins, pinned by crystal defects, remain below T-M when the bulk of spins have aligned with the antiferromagnetic c axis. These nuclei serve to regenerate room temperature domain structure and remanence in warming through T-M.