Coercive field behavior of permalloy antidot arrays based on self-assembled template fabrication

High-density magnetic antidot arrays have been fabricated by deposition of Fe₂₀Ni₈₀ thin films on self-assembled nanoporous alumina membranes (NAM) with high-order hexagonal symmetry. The magnetic properties induced by the size and the geometry configuration of the holes introduced in a Fe₂₀Ni₈₀ thin film are discussed based on hysteresis loops measured as a function of temperature. The precursor NAMs have pore diameters ranging between 35 and 95 nm (55 and 75 nm after the film deposition) and a lattice parameter of 105 nm. An enormous increase of coercitivity, as compared with the corresponding continuous films, was observed for temperatures between 2 and 300 K. This effect depends on the size and surface density of holes in the Fe₂₀Ni₈₀ antidot arrays. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) measurements were performed in order to better clarify the magnetic material that was eventually deposited within the NAM pores.     

Magnetic irreversibility of the Fe antidot arrays film by depositing on the porous alumina templates

An Fe layer was sputter-deposited onto porous alumina templates and Kapton respectively. Fe layer on the porous alumina templates formed an antidot arrays nanostructure, while Fe layer on the Kapton substrate formed a continuous film. Scanning electron microscopy and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction were employed to characterize the morphology and crystal structure of the Fe antidot arrays and continuous film, respectively. The temperature dependence of magnetic properties was shown in the temperature range 2-300 K. The irreversibility of the magnetization of Fe antidot arrays film, as measured in zero-field cooling (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) states, was attributed to the pinning effect of the holes.     

Electrochemical deposition of Co nanowire arrays into self-organized titania nanotubes

Arrays of Co magnetic nanowires with hexagonal symmetry have been prepared by electrodeposition into self-aligned titania nanotubes membranes. The nanowires have been investigated by X-ray diffraction, SEM, and VSM magnetometry. Magnetization curves of arrays of Co wires indicate that the easy direction of magnetization is a direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire.     

Application of conformal mapping to the determination of magnetic moment distributions in typical antidot film nanostructures

There has been an increasing technological interest on magnetic thin films containing antidot arrays of hexagonal or square symmetry. Part of this interest is related to the possibility of domain formation and pinning at the antidots boundaries. In this paper, we develop an accurate method for the simulation of the magnetic moments distribution for such arrays. The method concentrates the calculations on the immediate vicinity of each antidot. For each antidot distribution (square or hexagonal) a suitable system of coordinates is defined to exploit the shape of the unit-cells of the overall nanostructure. The Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Brown equations that govern the distribution of moments are rewritten in terms of these coordinates. The moments orientation is calculated as a function of time until equilibrium is reached, in a Cartesian grid defined for these new coordinate systems. A conformal transformation is applied to insert the moment vectors into the actual unit-cell. The resulting vector maps display quite clearly regions of different moment orientation around the antidots, which can be associated with nanoscale domains. The results are similar to the ones obtained by other authors [C.C. Wang, A.O. Adeyeye, N. Singh, Nanotechnology 17, 1629 (2006); C.C. Wang, A.O. Adeyeye, N. Singh, Y.S. Huang, Y.H. Hu, Phys. Rev. B 72, 174426 (2005); C.T. Yu, H. Jiang, L. Shen, P. Flanders, G. Mankey, J. Appl. Phys. 87, 6322 (2000); E. Mengotti, L.J. Heyderman, F. Nolting, B.R. Craig, J.N. Chapman, L.L. Diaz, R.J. Matelon, U.G. Volkman, M. Klaui, U. Rudiger, C. Vaz, J. Bland, J. Appl. Phys. 103, 07D509 (2008)] using the NIST oommf method, but obtained in a much simpler and direct way.     

Polarization tomography of metallic nanohole arrays

We report polarization tomography experiments on metallic nanohole arrays with square and hexagonal symmetry. As a main result we find that a fully polarized input beam is partly depolarized after transmission through a nanohole array. This loss of polarization coherence is found to be anisotropic; i.e., it depends on the polarization state of the input beam. The depolarization is ascribed to a combination of two factors: (i) the nonlocal response of the array as a result of surface-plasmon propagation and (ii) the non-plane-wave nature of a practical input beam.     

Depth dependence of Néel wall pinning on amorphous CoxSi1−x films with diluted arrays of elliptical antidots

Diluted arrays of elliptical antidots have been fabricated by optical lithography, electron beam lithography and plasma etching on amorphous Co₇₄Si₂₆ magnetic films with a well-defined uniaxial anisotropy. The magnetic behavior of two identical antidot arrays but with different hole depth in comparison with film thickness has been studied by transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect. Significant differences appear in the coercivity depending on whether the magnetic film is completely perforated or not, indicating a much more effective domain wall pinning process when the depth of the holes is smaller than the magnetic film thickness.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of ordered barium ferrite nanowire arrays in AAO template

BaFe₁₂O₁₉ nanowire arrays having single magnetic domain size (≤460 nm) in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates were prepared by sol-gel and self-propagating high-temperature synthesis techniques. The diameter of the nanowire arrays is approximately 70 nm and the length is about 2-4 μm. The specimens were characterized using X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, field emission scan electron microscope, atomic force microscopy and microwave vector network analyzer. The magnetic properties of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ nanowire arrays embedded in AAO templates were measured by VSM with a field up to 1274 KA/m at room temperature. The results indicate that the nanowire arrays exhibit large saturation magnetization and high coercivity in the range of 6000 Oe and an obvious magnetic anisotropy with the easy magnetizing axis along the length of the nanowire arrays, probably due to the shape anisotropy and magneto-crystalline anisotropy. Finally the microwave absorption properties of the nanowires were discussed.     

Functional Fe–Pd nanomaterials synthesized by template-assisted methods

In this work, we highlight our recent progress in the synthesis and characterization of functional nanomaterials based on Fe–Pd ferromagnetic alloys by means of template-assisted deposition techniques employing highly ordered nanoporous alumina membranes, such as ordered arrays of nanowires and antidots thin films. Special attention is paid on their basic magnetic properties, such as coercivity, remanence and magnetic anisotropy, and their dependence on the microstructure and morphological parameters of the ordered arrays.     

基于纳米孔阵列增透膜的光伏器件特性分析及实验研究

利用严格耦合波理论分析了纳米孔阵列薄膜的光学特性,提出将纳米孔阵列薄膜作为光伏器件 增透膜来提高器件的光吸收和转换效率.理论分析表明:纳米孔阵列薄膜比单层增透膜有更好的增透效果, 能够更好地提高光伏器件的转换效率,在400 nm-600 nm波段尤为显著.纳米孔阵列薄膜的最优结构参数: 周期为500 nm,填充率为0.2,厚度为110 nm.采用微纳加工技术,在Φ 200 μm Si 探测器的增透膜上制作了不同周期的纳米孔阵列,并搭建了相应的测试系统.实验结果表明: 周期为500 nm时器件的性能提高最为明显,短路电流在400 nm-1100 nm波段提高约为6%, 在400 nm-600 nm波段提高约为15%;开路电压提高约为2%.纳米孔阵列薄膜能够很好地提高光伏器件 的转换效率.     

Aluminium nanohole arrays enhanced resonance Raman scattering spectra in the near ultraviolet region

Aluminium nanohole arrays with fixed diameter were fabricated by focused ion beam and the periodicities were turned.Aluminium nanohole arrays enhanced resonance Raman scattering spectra in the near ultraviolet region were studied experimentally and theoretically,which revealed that the SERRS enhancement factor was as high as 6 orders.     

Conversion efficiency enhanced photovoltaic device with nanohole arrays in antireflection coating layer

In this paper, the authors introduce an enhanced photovoltaic device with nanohole arrays only in its antireflection coating. These nanoholes can improve light trapping efficiency as well as photoelectric conversion efficiency of the device. The authors analyze the light absorption of the devices with nanohole arrays by Finite-Difference Time Domain method and calculate the photoelectric conversion efficiency. The results show that the nanohole arrays can improve the light trapping more efficiently than the Si₃N₄ antireflection coating, especially, in 400-600 nm spectral range. Nanohole arrays with different characteristic parameters were fabricated in the antireflection coating layer of a Φ200 μm Si detector by using focused-ion beam system. With the optimized nanohole arrays, the enhancements factor of the experimental sample's photoelectric conversion efficiency is ~ 16% within the 400-600 nm spectral range and ~ 10% within the 400-1100 nm spectral range.     

Fabrication of CoFe_2O_4 ferrite nanowire arrays in porous silicon template and their local magnetic properties

CoFe_2O_4 ferrite nanowire arrays are fabricated in porous silicon templates. The porous silicon templates are prepared via metal-assisted chemical etching with gold(Au) nanoparticles as the catalyst. Subsequently, CoFe_2O_4 ferrite nanowires are successfully synthesized into porous silicon templates by the sol–gel method. The magnetic hysteresis loop of nanowire array shows an isotropic feature of magnetic properties. The coercivity and squareness ratio(M_r/M_s) of ensemble nanowires are found to be 630 Oe(1 Oe = 79.5775 A·m~(-1) and 0.4 respectively. However, the first-order reversal curve(FORC) is adopted to reveal the probability density function of local magnetostatic properties(i.e., interwire interaction field and coercivity). The FORC diagram shows an obvious distribution feature for interaction field and coercivity. The local coercivity with a value of about 1000 Oe is found to have the highest probability.     

Enhanced imaging of magnetic structures in micropatterned arrays of Co dots and antidots

A specific technique of numerical treatment of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) signal has been developed to enhance the quality of raw images, in order both to improve their contrast and to gain better insight on the sample topography and on the local arrangement of the magnetisation vector. Basically, the technique consists in computing the optimum conformal transformation that allows one to superimpose two AFM images of the same area, acquired performing subsequent scans whose fast scan axis were mutually perpendicular, and applying the inverse transform to the second image. After MFM image superposition, the two datasets were either summed or subtracted, in order to improve the magnetic contrast. Computations have been done in a Matlab^® workspace with the help of Image Processing Toolbox 4.2. Improved MFM images obtained on both dots and antidots thin evaporated Co arrays in the demagnetised state (after performing alternate field demagnetisation parallel and perpendicular to the array plane) have been interpreted. Samples consisting of large-size patterns (1×1 mm) of circular dots/antidots with square/hexagonal lattices and minimum diameters of 1 μm were prepared by optical lithography. The magnetic film thickness was chosen depending on resist thickness, and varied between 25 and 150 nm, with a fixed ratio 1:4 between metal/resist film thickness. MFM was exploited to obtain images of either intra-dot or inter-antidot magnetic structures.     

Cobalt antidot arrays on membranes: Fabrication and investigation with transmission X-ray microscopy

We have developed a method to fabricate ferromagnetic antidot arrays on silicon nitride membrane substrates for electron or soft X-ray microscopy with antidot periods ranging from 2 μm down to 200 nm. Observations of cobalt antidot arrays with magnetic soft X-ray microscopy show that for large periods, flux closure states occur between the antidots in the as-grown state and on application of a magnetic field, domain chains are created which show a spin configuration at the chain ends comprising four 90° walls. Pinning of the domain chain ends plays an important role in the magnetization reversal, determining the length of the chains and resulting in preservation of the domain chain configuration on reducing of the applied magnetic field to zero.     

铁镍合金纳米管阵列的模板制备和磁性

"在阳极氧化铝模板的孔洞中利用模板浸润的方法成功制备出了铁镍合金纳米管阵列．通过改变所用模板的参数和沉积纳米管的的制备条件,所制备的纳米管的长度、内径和外径的尺寸都可以得到有效控制．利用扫描电子显微镜和透射电子显微镜对所制备的纳米管及其阵列的形貌进行了表征．对铁镍合金纳米管阵列的宏观磁性测量表明样品具有磁各向异性,沿纳米管长轴方向样品更容易被磁化．对纳米管的磁化反转机制和磁矩在纳米管中的静态分布进行了讨论．铁镍合金纳米管的这些性质都是由纳米管的独特结构造成的．"     

Plasmonic sensors based on thick metal film perforated with rectangular nanohole arrays

The dependence of optical properties on the ambient medium, the period of nanohole arrays and the metal film thickness in a thick silver film perforated with rectangular nanohole arrays is investigated using the finite‐difference time‐domain technique. As a result of the coupling between top and down surface plasmon polaritons, mediated by localized surface plasmon resonances supported by the metallic rectangular nano‐ holes, interesting light phenomena are observed for varying thickness of the metal film and period of the rectangular nanohole arrays. Based on the dependence of the optical properties on the ambient medium, the possibility of exploiting thick metal rectangular nanohole arrays as plasmonic sensors is further discussed, the potential application as plasmonic sensors is revealed. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Abnormal magnetoresistance behavior in Nb thin film with rectangular arrays of antidots

Magnetoresistance in superconducting Nb films perforated with rectangular arrays of antidots (holes) is investigated at various temperatures and currents. Normally, the magnetoresistance increases with the increasing magnetic field. In this paper, we report a reverse behavior in a certain range of high fields after vortex reconfiguration transition, where the resistances at non-matching fields are smaller than those in the low field regime. This phenomenon is due to a strong caging effect, in which the interstitial vortices are trapped among the pinned multiquanta vortices. This effect is temperature and current dependent.     

Microscopic origin of surface-plasmon radiation in plasmonic band-gap nanostructures

We report spatial domain measurements of the damping of surface-plasmon excitations in metal films with periodic nanohole arrays. The measurements reveal a short coherent propagation length of a few microm inside nanohole arrays, consistent with delays of about 10 fs in ultrafast transmission experiments. This implies that the transmission spectra of the entire plasmonic band-gap structure are homogeneously broadened by radiative damping of surface-plasmon excitations. We show that a Rayleigh-like scattering of surface plasmons by the periodic hole array is the microscopic origin of this damping, allowing the reradiation rate to be controlled.     

Fabrication of Nanomaterials Using Porous Alumina Templates

Nanofabrication by self-organization methods has attracted much attention owing to the fact that it enables mass production without the use of expensive lithographical tools, such as an electron beam exposure system. Porous alumina can be fabricated electrochemically through anodic oxidation of aluminum by means of such a self-organization method, yielding highly ordered arrays of nanoholes several hundreds down to several tens of nanometers in size. This paper is an overview of recent research on porous alumina science and technology, nanohole array self-organization conditions and mechanisms, various methods of nanostructure formation using porous alumina templates, optical and magnetic nanofabrication, perspectives on electronic nano device fabrication and chemical/biological sensors and membranes.     

Magnetic Properties of A Cavity-Embedded Square Lattice of Quantum Dots or Antidots

Quantum electrodynamical density functional theory is applied to obtain the electronic density, spin polarization, as well as orbital and spin magnetizations of square periodic arrays of quantum dots or antidots subjected to the influence of a far-infrared cavity photon field. A gradient-based exchange-correlation functional adapted to a 2D electron gas in a transverse homogeneous magnetic field is used in the theoretical framework and calculations. The obtained results predict a non-trivial effect of the cavity field on the electron distribution in the unit cell of the superlattice, as well as on the orbital and spin magnetizations. The number of electrons per unit cell of the superlattice is shown to play a crucial role in the modification of the magnetization via the electron–photon coupling. The calculations show that cavity photons strengthen the diamagnetic effect in the quantum dot structure, while they weaken the paramagnetic effect in the antidot structure. As the number of electrons per unit cell of the lattice increases, the electron–photon interaction reduces the exchange forces that will otherwise promote strong spin splitting for both the dot and the antidot arrays.