The Thermo-Electric Properties of Ferromagnetics

Abstract

IT has long been known that there are peculiarities in the thermo-electric power curves of the ferromagnetic metals. Fairly recently Dorfman, Jaanus, and Kikoin (Zeits. für Phys., 54, 277; 1929) have measured carefully the thermo-electric power of nickel against platinum over a range of temperatures in the neighbourhood of the Curie point of nickel. The variation is such as to indicate a fairly sudden change in the ‘specific heat of electricity’ for nickel at the Curie point. The magnitude of the change in the specific heat per electron, ΔC_e is of the same order as the change in the specific heat per atom, ΔC_a, determined in the usual way. From this point it was concluded that the magnetic ‘carriers’ could be identified with the conduction electrons, although this does not fit in with other evidence.