Curie temperature in the context of Critical point (chemistry)

In thermodynamics, a critical point (or critical state) is the end point of a phase equilibrium curve. One example is the liquid–vapor critical point, the end point of the pressure–temperature curve that designates conditions under which a liquid and its vapor can coexist. At higher temperatures, the gas comes into a supercritical phase, and so cannot be liquefied by pressure alone. At the critical point, defined by a critical temperature T_c and a critical pressure p_c, phase boundaries vanish. Other examples include the liquid–liquid critical points in mixtures, and the ferromagnet–paramagnet transition (Curie temperature) in the absence of an external magnetic field.

Crustal magnetism is the magnetic field of the crust of a planetary body. The crustal magnetism of Earth has been studied; in particular, various magnetic crustal anomalies have been studied. Two examples of crustal magnetic anomalies on Earth that have been studied in the Americas are the Brunswick magnetic anomaly (BMA) and East Coast magnetic anomaly (ECMA). Also, there can be a correlation between physical geological features and certain readings from crustal magnetism on Earth. Below the surface of the Earth, the crustal magnetism is lost because the temperature rises above the curie temperature of the materials producing the field.

On Mars, the crustal magnetic fields have been noted as affecting its ionosphere. (See also Atmosphere of Mars) The magnetic fields on Mars from its rocks and crust are thought to come from ferromagnetism and if the material is heated above its curie temperature the magnetic imprint is un-done. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) discovered magnetic stripes in the crust of Mars, especially in the Phaethontis and Eridania quadrangles (Terra Cimmeria and Terra Sirenum). The magnetometer on MGS discovered 100 km (62 mi) wide stripes of magnetized crust running roughly parallel for up to 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi). These stripes alternate in polarity, with the north magnetic pole of one pointing up from the surface and the north magnetic pole of the next pointing down. When similar stripes were discovered on Earth in the 1960s, they were taken as evidence of plate tectonics. Researchers believe these magnetic stripes on Mars are evidence for a short, early period of plate tectonic activity. Only roughly half of Mars seems to have a crustal magnetic field; there are several possible explanations for this, such as that an internal dynamo only affected part of the planet, or that a body struck Mars in the past destroying the magnetism.

A magnetic domain is a region within a magnetic material in which the magnetization is in a uniform direction. This means that the individual magnetic moments of the atoms are aligned with one another and they point in the same direction. When cooled below a temperature called the Curie temperature, the magnetization of a piece of ferromagnetic material spontaneously divides into many small regions called magnetic domains. The magnetization within each domain points in a uniform direction, but the magnetization of different domains may point in different directions. Magnetic domain structure is responsible for the magnetic behavior of ferromagnetic materials like iron, nickel, cobalt and their alloys, and ferrimagnetic materials like ferrite. This includes the formation of permanent magnets and the attraction of ferromagnetic materials to a magnetic field. The regions separating magnetic domains are called domain walls, where the magnetization rotates coherently from the direction in one domain to that in the next domain. The study of magnetic domains is called micromagnetics.

Magnetic domains form in materials which have magnetic ordering; that is, their dipoles spontaneously align due to the exchange interaction. These are the ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials. Paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials, in which the dipoles align in response to an external field but do not spontaneously align, do not have magnetic domains.

Spontaneous magnetization is the appearance of an ordered spin state (magnetization) at zero applied magnetic field in a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material below a critical point called the Curie temperature or T_C.