Magnetic properties of a basalt glass and glass-ceramics

Mössbauer, ESR and magnetization measurements have been carried out on a basalt glass heat-treated at different temperatures (600, 650, 700, 800 and 900°C for 8 h). The as-annealed glass and the above five samples showed two-doublet Mössbauer spectra, while the last two samples also showed a six line magnetic hyperfine pattern at 300 K. At 4 K, the last four samples showed magnetic hyperfine patterns, while the as-annealed glass showed that there was already short range magnetic ordering present. High field Mössbauer data at 4 K showed that the surface spins are canted. The minimum quadrupole splitting and the maximum isomer shift around 700°C are related to the improved symmetry of the magnetite lattice. ESR spectra showed paramagnetic resonances at g = 4.3 and g = 2.0 for the first two samples, while the last four samples showed superparamagnetic resonance centred around g = 2.0 at 300 K. At lower temperatures, the 650 and 700°C samples showed ferrimagnetic resonance. Magnetization curves against H/T superpose well both at 300 and 77 K, showing the typical superparamagnetic behaviour of the small magnetite particles. The saturation magnetization (at 270 K) showed a sharp change around 700°C, showing the formation of magnetite. The magnetic structure of the small magnetite particles are discussed in terms of the above results.