Weiss domain

Weiss domains are small areas in a crystal structure of a ferromagnetic material with uniformly oriented magnetic momenta. They were named after the French physicist Pierre-Ernest Weiss (1865–1940).

Weiss discovered in 1907 [The Timetables of Science|pages=411] that the magnetic moment of atoms ("elementary magnets") of ferromagnetic materials become oriented, even without an external magnetic field. The size of these oriented domains is in the range of 10^-3 to 10^-5 mm including a volume of about 10⁶ to 10⁹ atoms. The orientation is related to the crystal structure of the material.

By nature the Weiss domains are magnetized to the full saturation. The boundaries between the domains are called Bloch walls.

Weiss domains are also found in ferroelectric materials (the electrical analogue of ferromagnetic materials), where the ferroelectric domains align to from regions of uniform dipole orientation.

ee also

*Magnetic domains

References