Minnesotaite Research Articles

Field-induced ferromagnetism in minnesotaite

Minnesotaite, a 2:1 layer sheet silicate, is antifer-romagnetic below 30 K. A spin flop or metamagnetic transition occurs in a small applied magnetic field. Neutron diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy, in an external magnetic field of 4.0 T, show that the magnetic structure consists of Fe2+ spins coupled ferromagnetically in the c plane with alternate ferromagnetic planes coupled antiferromagnetically.