Magnetophoresis of nonmagnetic particles in ferrofluids

Ferrofluids containing nonmagnetic particles are called inverse ferrofluids. On the basis of the Ewald-Kornfeld formulation and the Maxwell-Garnett theory, we theoretically investigate the magnetophoretic force exerting on the nonmagnetic particles in inverse ferrofluids due to the presence of a nonuniform magnetic field, by taking into account the structural transition and long-range interaction. We numerically demonstrate that the force can be adjusted by choosing appropriate lattices, volume fractions, geometric shapes, and conductivities of the nonmagnetic particles, as well as frequencies of external magnetic fields.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figure

Photonic Hall Effect in ferrofluids: Theory and Experiments

An experimental and theoretical study on the Photonic Hall Effect (PHE) in liquid and gelled samples of ferrofluids is presented. The ferrofluids are aqueous colloidal suspensions of Fe(_{2})CoO(_{4}) particles, which can be considered as anisotropic and absorbing Rayleigh scatterers. The PHE is found to be produced by the orientation of the magnetic moments of the particles, as is also the case for the Faraday effect. The dependence of the PHE with respect to the concentration of the scatterers, the magnetic field and the polarization of the incident light is measured in liquid and in gelled samples and is compared to a simple model based on the use of a scattering matrix and the single scattering approximation.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, submitte

Magnetic properties of colloidal suspensions of interacting magnetic particles

We review equilibrium thermodynamic properties of systems of magnetic particles like ferrofluids in which dipolar interactions play an important role. The review is focussed on two subjects: ({\em i}) the magnetization with the initial magnetic susceptibility as a special case and ({\em ii}) the phase transition behavior. Here the condensation ("gas/liquid") transition in the subsystem of the suspended particles is treated as well as the isotropic/ferromagnetic transition to a state with spontaneously generated long--range magnetic order.Comment: Review. 62 pages, 4 figure

Magnetization of polydisperse colloidal ferrofluids: Effect of magnetostriction

We exploit magnetostriction in polydisperse ferrofluids in order to generate nonlinear responses, and apply a thermodynamical method to derive the desired nonlinear magnetic susceptibility. For an ideal gas, this method has been demonstrated to be in excellent agreement with a statistical method. In the presence of a sinusoidal ac magnetic field, the magnetization of the polydisperse ferrofluid contains higher-order harmonics, which can be extracted analytically by using a perturbation approach. We find that the harmonics are sensitive to the particle distribution and the degree of field-induced anisotropy of the system. In addition, we find that the magnetization is higher in the polydisperse system than in the monodisperse one, as also found by a recent Monte Carlo simulation. Thus, it seems possible to detect the size distribution in a polydisperse ferrofluid by measuring the harmonics of the magnetization under the influence of magnetostriction.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures. To be accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Polygonal micro-whirlpools induced in ferrofluids

We report on the observation of the polygonal whirlpools in the thin layer of ferrofluid under illumination with a laser beam carrying optical vortex and in the presence of a vertical magnetic field. This kind of structures have attracted attention after discovering a hexagonal storm in Saturns atmosphere. Our polygonal whirlpools were created in a closed system (no free surfaces) in micro scale (whirlpool diameter less than 20 micrometers) by the use of holographic optical tweezers. The polygonal shape was changed by varying the magnetic field strength or value of the optical vortex topological charge