ON SPIN-CANTING IN MAGHEMITE PARTICLES

The degree of alignment of the magnetic moments of Fe3+ ions in ultraf ine maghemite particles has been studied in samples with induced magne tic texture. The textured samples were prepared by freezing ferrofluid s, containing 7.5 nm maghemite particles, in a magnetic field. Mossbau er spectroscopy studies of the textured samples in large magnetic fiel ds demonstrate that the lack of full alignment is not an effect of lar ge magnetic anisotropy, as suggested recently, but that the effect is rather due to canting of individual spins.