Fundamental magnetic parameters from pure synthetic greigite (Fe3S4)

Pure ferrimagnetic greigite (Fe3S4) has been synthesized by reacting ferric chloride with thiourea and formic acid at 170 degrees C. Sample purity was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy, coupled with magnetic measurements. Scanning electron microscope observations indicate clear cubo-octahedral and polyhedral crystal morphologies. The grain sizes are as large as 44 mu m. Detailed low-and high-temperature magnetic measurements document the previously poorly known magnetic properties of greigite. The synthetic greigite samples are dominated by pseudo-single-domain and multi-domain behavior. The saturation magnetization (M-s) at room temperature is similar to 59 Am-2 kg(-1) (3.13 mu(B) per formula unit), which is higher than any value previously reported for greigite in the literature largely because of the high purity of this sample compared to others. No low-temperature magnetic transition has been detected; however, a local coercivity minimum is observed at around 130 K, which is probably associated with domain walls present in the studied samples. The high-temperature magnetic properties of greigite are dominated by chemical decomposition above around 250 degrees C, which precludes determination of the Curie temperature, but our evidence indicates that it must exceed 350 degrees C. On the basis of the Bloch spin wave expansion, the spin wave stiffness of greigite was determined for the first time as similar to 193 meV.angstrom(2) from low-temperature M-s measurements, with the corresponding exchange constant JAB of similar to 1.03 meV.