What does ferrimagnetic mean?
Ferrimagnetic describes a class of materials that are magnetized in an unusual way. In these substances, the magnetic moments of neighboring atoms line up in opposite directions, as in antiferromagnets — but because the opposing moments are unequal in strength, they fail to cancel completely, leaving the material with a net magnetization. The result looks superficially like ordinary ferromagnetism: the material is attracted to magnets and can hold a permanent magnetic field. The difference lies in the internal arrangement, which limits how strong that magnetization can be. The classic example is magnetite, the ancient lodestone used in the earliest compasses, along with the synthetic ferrites widely used in transformer cores, microwave devices, and recording media. The term derives from Latin ferrum, 'iron', reflecting the iron content typical of such compounds. It is specialized vocabulary, encountered mainly in physics and engineering rather than everyday language.
adjectiveOf or relating to a form of magnetism in which adjacent atomic magnetic moments are antiparallel but unequal, so the material retains a net magnetization. Ferrimagnetic materials, such as magnetite and ferrites, behave similarly to ferromagnetic ones but typically have lower saturation magnetization.
- Describing a material in which unequal opposing atomic magnetic moments produce a net spontaneous magnetization, characteristic of ferrites such as magnetite.
"Magnetite is the best-known ferrimagnetic mineral and was exploited in early compass needles long before the phenomenon was understood."
"The device stores data on a thin ferrimagnetic layer whose alignment can be switched by a laser pulse."
"Because garnet films are ferrimagnetic, they exhibit strong magnetization despite containing ions with opposed spins."
The lodestone that guided the first compasses was ferrimagnetic — yet physicists only untangled why it works in the mid-20th century.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of ferrimagnetic
Ferrimagnetic combines the Latin root ferrum, meaning 'iron' — the same root behind ferrous and ferromagnetic — with 'magnetic', from Greek magnētis (lithos), referring to the Magnetic stone of Magnesia. The term was coined by French physicist Louis Néel in 1948 to name the type of ordering he proposed to explain the properties of ferrites, work that contributed to his 1970 Nobel Prize in Physics. Its sibling terms ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic trace the same scientific lineage of describing how atomic spins align.
Related word forms
How ferrimagnetic is actually used
Strictly technical vocabulary confined to physics, materials science, and electrical engineering; it does not appear in everyday speech or general prose. The term was introduced by French physicist Louis Néel in 1948 to describe the behavior he had predicted in ferrites.
Easily confused with ferrimagnetic
In ferromagnetic materials adjacent moments align parallel, whereas in ferrimagnetic materials they align antiparallel and unequally, leaving only a partial net magnetization.