Intensity determination by continuous thermal cycling

The advent of cryogenic magnetometers with which remanence can be measured at high sensitivity statically permits continuous thermal demagnetization and, in principle, a continuous version of the classic stepwise method of intensity determination. In the technique we have initially tried a field is trapped in the superconducting shield of the magnetometer throughout the experiment. The sample is then thermally cycled over progressively higher temperature ranges so that the incremental acquisition of partial thermoremanence (PTRM) and loss of the natural remanence (NRM) of the sample can be compared. In control experiments we have found that bad intensity estimates arise because the presence of the field causes difficulty in reliable separation of remanent and induced moments. A better approach is to heat and cool the sample in the required fields outside of the magnetometer and to insert it into the magnetometer only for the measurement of remanence. In this way it will be possible to cycle the sample to progressively higher temperatures and measure at elevated temperatures without cooling to room temperature, but one will measure remanence directly in zero field.