Visualized effect of oxidation on magnetic recording fidelity in pseudo-single-domain magnetite particles. Almeida, T. P., Kasama, T., Muxworthy, A. R., Williams, W., Nagy, L., Hansen, T. W., Brown, P. D., & Dunin-Borkowski, R. E. Nature Communications, October, 2014.
Visualized effect of oxidation on magnetic recording fidelity in pseudo-single-domain magnetite particles [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Magnetite (​Fe3O4) is an important magnetic mineral to Earth scientists, as it carries the dominant magnetic signature in rocks, and the understanding of its magnetic recording fidelity provides a critical tool in the field of palaeomagnetism. However, reliable interpretation of the recording fidelity of ​Fe3O4 particles is greatly diminished over time by progressive oxidation to less magnetic iron oxides, such as maghemite (γ-Fe2O3), with consequent alteration of remanent magnetization potentially having important geological significance. Here we use the complementary techniques of environmental transmission electron microscopy and off-axis electron holography to induce and visualize the effects of oxidation on the magnetization of individual nanoscale ​Fe3O4 particles as they transform towards γ-Fe2O3. Magnetic induction maps demonstrate a change in both strength and direction of remanent magnetization within ​Fe3O4 particles in the size range dominant in rocks, confirming that oxidation can modify the original stored magnetic information.
@article{ almeida_visualized_2014,
  title = {Visualized effect of oxidation on magnetic recording fidelity in pseudo-single-domain magnetite particles},
  volume = {5},
  copyright = {© 2014 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.},
  url = {http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/141010/ncomms6154/full/ncomms6154.html},
  doi = {10.1038/ncomms6154},
  abstract = {Magnetite (​Fe3O4) is an important magnetic mineral to Earth scientists, as it carries the dominant magnetic signature in rocks, and the understanding of its magnetic recording fidelity provides a critical tool in the field of palaeomagnetism. However, reliable interpretation of the recording fidelity of ​Fe3O4 particles is greatly diminished over time by progressive oxidation to less magnetic iron oxides, such as maghemite (γ-Fe2O3), with consequent alteration of remanent magnetization potentially having important geological significance. Here we use the complementary techniques of environmental transmission electron microscopy and off-axis electron holography to induce and visualize the effects of oxidation on the magnetization of individual nanoscale ​Fe3O4 particles as they transform towards γ-Fe2O3. Magnetic induction maps demonstrate a change in both strength and direction of remanent magnetization within ​Fe3O4 particles in the size range dominant in rocks, confirming that oxidation can modify the original stored magnetic information.},
  language = {en},
  urldate = {2014-11-10TZ},
  journal = {Nature Communications},
  author = {Almeida, Trevor P. and Kasama, Takeshi and Muxworthy, Adrian R. and Williams, Wyn and Nagy, Lesleis and Hansen, Thomas W. and Brown, Paul D. and Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E.},
  month = {October},
  year = {2014},
  keywords = {Earth sciences, Geology and geophysics}
}

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