On the Distribution of Magnetic Moments in a System of Magnetic Nanoparticles

Abstract

Particle size distribution carries out a substantial role in the magnetic behavior of nanostructured magnetic systems. In fact, a vast literature on superparamagnetism has been reported, suggesting that the particle size distribution in a system of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) corresponds to a lognormal probability density function, and several works have properly considered their magnetic moments following a similar distribution, as a universal rule. In this manuscript, it is demonstrated that alternative probability distribution functions, such as the gamma and Weibull ones, can be used to obtain useful parameters from the analysis of the magnetization curves, indicating there is no universal model to represent the actual magnetic moment distribution in a system of magnetic nanoparticles. Inspired by this observation, a reliable method to properly identify the actual magnetic moment distribution in a given nanostructured magnetic system is proposed and discussed.

Keywords

• magnetic nanoparticles
• magnetic moment distributions
• distribution models