The magnetic and morphological properties of fine Fe particles have been studied. Ultrafine particles of Fe were prepared using a vapor deposition technique under an argon atmosphere. The argon pressure was varied from 0.5 to 8 Torr during evaporation, and samples with a median diameter in the range 50–200 Å were obtained having a log-normal distribution. The dependence of magnetic properties on particle size and temperature (10 K<T<300 K) were studied using superconducting-quantum-interference-device magnetometry and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Samples with particle diameter below 90 Å showed a superparamagnetic behavior below room temperature. The saturation magnetization of the particles varied from 25 to 190 emu/g, with the higher values corresponding to larger particles. For these larger particles, a coercivity of 1.05 kOe was obtained at room temperature. The magnetic and structural data suggested a core-shell type of structure, where the core consists of metallic Fe and the shell is composed of Fe oxides.

A review of the experimental and theoretical literature describing the mobility of fractal aggregates over the previous three decades is presented. Aggregates are those formed via both diffusion and reaction limited cluster-cluster aggregation processes, DLCA and RLCA, which form aggregates with fractal dimensions and prefactors of ca. 1.78 and 1.3 and 2.1 and 0.94, respectively. Emphasis is placed on DLCA aggregates. The entire Knudsen number range from continuum to free molecular is reviewed. The review finds a simple and general consensus description of mobility for the entire range.