Formation of Single-Magnetic-Domain Iron Particles via Vapor-Phase Nucleation: Implications for the Solar Nebula
✍ Scribed by Paul A. Withey; Joseph A. Nuth III
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 170 KB
- Volume
- 139
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0019-1035
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✦ Synopsis
We report experimental evidence of the production of singlemagnetic-domain iron grains via vapor-phase nucleation even in the absence of an ambient magnetic field. These single domain grains are thermodynamically stable as fully saturated magnetic dipoles. The spontaneous formation of fully magnetized single-domain iron grains, and by inference a variety of other single-domain particles such as taenite or magnetite, could greatly increase the coagulation efficiency of submicrometer-sized grains in the primitive solar nebula. An important test of this hypothesis is proposed: an examination of 20-to 50-nm diameter iron grains in the matrix of very primitive chondrites should reveal an interconnected, threedimensional string or web-like structure within the matrix.