We have grown high quality magnetite microcrystals free from antiphase boundaries on Ru(0001) by reactive molecular beam epitaxy, conserving bulk magnetic properties below 20 nm thickness. Magnetization vector maps are obtained by X-ray spectromicroscopy and compared with micromagnetic simulations. The observed domain configurations are dictated purely by shape anisotropy, overcoming the possib...

Citation: Kubo H, Nakamura N, Kotsugi M, Ohkochi T, Terada K and Fukuda K (2015) Striped domains of coarse-grained magnetite observed by X-ray photoemission electron microscopy as a source of the high remanence of granites in the Vredefort dome. Front. Earth Sci. 3:31. doi: 10.3389/feart.2015.00031 Striped domains of coarse-grained magnetite observed by X-ray photoemission electron microscopy a...

Off-axis electron holography in the transmission electron microscope was used to correlate the physical and magnetic microstructure of magnetite nanocrystals in magnetotactic bacteria. The magnetite crystals were all single magnetic domains, and the magnetization directions of small superparamagnetic crystals were constrained by magnetic interactions with larger crystals in the chains. Shape an...

Unique magnetite-nanoparticles-attached necklace-like Cu@cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) microcables with multi-functionalities can be synthesized by in situ loading the magnetite nanoparticles in the network structure of a cross-linked PVA sheath using a modified polyol method; the superparamagnetic and green fluorescent properties of the cables enable this type of magnetic functionaliz...

The complex and intriguing properties of the ferrimagnetic half metal magnetite (Fe3O4) are of continuing fundamental interest as well as being important for practical applications in spintronics, magnetism, catalysis and medicine. There is considerable speculation concerning the role of the ubiquitous antiphase boundary (APB) defects in magnetite, however, direct information on their structure...

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of species bound to environmentally relevant oxide nanoparticles is largely limited to organic molecules structurally related to catechol that facilitate a chemical enhancement of the Raman signal. Here, we report that magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles provide a SERS signal from oxalic acid and cysteine via an electric field enhancement. Magnetite thus l...

The biophysical mechanism of vertebrate magnetic sensory perception has not been completely resolved. We here provide evidence for the use of a magnetic material (probably magnetite) by a vertebrate to detect the earth's magnetic field. The role of magnetite in bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) orientation was assessed by magnetizing the birds with a magnetic pulse in one of three orientations. ...

The orientation behaviour of Australian silvereyes, Zosterops l. lateralis, was tested during their spring migration, when they head southward to their Tasmanian breeding grounds. With only the local geomagnetic field as a cue, the birds significantly preferred their normal southerly migratory direction. Treatment with a short, strong magnetic pulse designed to alter the magnetization of single...

Stable hydrophobic nanocomposites of magnetic nanoparticles and clay are prepared by the self-assembly of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles on surfaces of exfoliated clay platelets. Due to the attractive interaction between hydrophobic groups, oleic acid coated nanoparticles are strongly attached to the surface of cetyl trimethylammonium cation coated clay platelets in organic media. Crystal stru...

The iron isotopic fractionation factor between magnetite and fayalite was measured at high temperature in a piston–cylinder apparatus. For the first time, the three-isotope method [Matsuhisa, J., Goldsmith, J. R., and Clayton, R. N., 1978. Mechanisms of hydrothermal crystallisation of quartz at 250 °C and 15 kbar. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42, 173–182.] has been used to determine equilibrium fra...