The influence of preliminary magnetic and thermomagnetic treatment on the microhardness of KDP crystals

The influence of preliminary treatment of KH2PO4 (KDP) crystals in a static magnetic field of 0.5 T for 1 h on the microhardness is revealed. It is found that, for a sample subjected to magnetization, the microhardness as a function of time t exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior with a sharp maximum at t = 4 days. The time required to reach the maximum microhardness decreases to three days when the sample is quenched before magnetization. © 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.