Britannica Sources used in this answer

How does ferrimagnetism differ from antiferromagnetism?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Diagram showing a circular loop of wire with an electric current, surrounded by curved blue lines representing magnetic field lines that loop around the wire and pass through its center. — magnetism Some lines of the magnetic field B (blue) for an electric current I (gold) in a loop.

Ferrimagnetism and antiferromagnetism both involve the spontaneous alignment of atomic magnetic moments in opposite (antiparallel) directions, but they differ fundamentally in their resulting net magnetization.123

Antiferromagnetism: In these materials, the magnetic moments pointing in opposite directions are equal in magnitude, meaning they perfectly cancel each other out. Consequently, the substance exhibits no net spontaneous magnetization. This ordering persists below a characteristic temperature known as the Néel temperature.43
Ferrimagnetism: In ferrimagnetic materials, the magnetic moments are also aligned antiparallel, but the moments on the opposing sublattices are unequal in size. Because the moments do not cancel out completely, the material retains a net spontaneous magnetization. This allows ferrimagnetic substances, such as magnetite, to exhibit properties similar to ferromagnetism, including remanence.132

While antiferromagnetic materials typically have low magnetic susceptibility, ferrimagnetic materials—often found in ferrites—are valued in the electronics industry for their ability to maintain significant magnetization while possessing low electric conductivity.153