ANOMALOUS FIELD-DEPENDENCE OF BLOCKING TEMPERATURE OF NATURAL HORSE-SPLEEN FERRITIN

As the number of people who use computers grows each year, so does the need for better ways to record and preserve information. To meet that need, materials that can rapidly store and retrieve huge amounts of d igital data need to be developed. The key to achieving reliable high-d ensity memories lies in nanotechnology. For a recording material to mo ve data in and out of storage speedily, its surface must have magnetic grains as small as 10 nanometers across. Such materials can be found in nature; the iron core in a ferritin protein is a perfect example. T his study attempted to determine the magnetic properties of these iron cores, utilizing a magnetometer to test horse-spleen ferritin. It was found that the protein has several unique characteristics that make i t a prospective material for the hard drives of the future.