Micromagnetic simulation of Fe asymmetric nanorings

During the last decade several methods to control the vortex chirality in nanodots have been proposed. One of them, the introduction of asymmetry in the geometry of the dots, originates interesting effects on the magnetic behavior of the particle. However, asymmetry in core-free structures is also interesting to investigate because of the reproducibility of their magnetic properties. In this work we report systematic changes in the coercivity and remanence in asymmetric nanorings. The angular dependence is also addressed. For specific geometries and magnetic field direction newly reversal modes appear associated with important changes in the coercivity and remanence of the rings.     

Reversal modes in asymmetric Ni nanowires

We have investigated the evolution of the magnetization reversal mechanism in asymmetric Ni nanowires as a function of their geometry. Circular nanowires are found to reverse their magnetization by the propagation of a vortex domain wall, while in very asymmetric nanowires the reversal is driven by the propagation of a transverse domain wall. The effect of shape asymmetry of the wire on coercivity and remanence is also studied. Angular dependence of the remanence and coercivity is also addressed. Tailoring the magnetization reversal mechanism in asymmetric nanowires can be useful for magnetic logic and race-track memory, both of which are based on the displacement of magnetic domain walls. Finally, an alternative method to detect the presence of magnetic drops is proposed.     

不同易轴取向下对Nd_2Fe_(14)B/Fe_(65)Co_(35)磁性双层膜的微磁学模拟

运用三维数值模拟计算方法,计算了膜面外不同易轴取向下Nd2Fe14B/Fe65Co35磁性双层膜的磁滞回线、角度分布、成核场、矫顽力和磁能积等,并与实验结果进行了细致比较.计算结果表明:只有当易轴与外场之间的夹角β=0?时,才有明显的成核现象,其成核场和矫顽力均随着软磁相厚度Ls的增加而降低;随着易轴偏角β的增大,剩磁逐渐减小,磁滞回线的方形度降低,从而磁能积减小,在Ls=1 nm,β=0?时磁能积(561.61 kJ/m3)最大.理论计算所得的磁滞回线与实验磁滞回线符合得很好,剩磁和矫顽力的理论值与实验值相差很小.     

Fabrication and magnetic behaviour of 2D ordered Fe/SiO2 nanodots array

We have demonstrated a simple and universal morphology-controlled growth of 2D ordered Fe/SiO₂ magnetic nanodots array, which was based on 2D colloidal monolayer template composed of polystyrene (PS) spheres and one-step sol-gel spin-coating technique. The Fe/SiO₂ nanodots have a well-ordered structure arranged in a hexagonal pattern. The dots have the shape of quasi-pyramidal tetrahedron, which reside in the interstitial region between three PS spheres and the substrate. Magnetic measurements reveal that the nanodots array exhibits the in-plane easy magnetization direction. Compared with the unpatterned Fe/SiO₂ thin film, the dots array has lower saturated field, higher remanence and coercivity. The present method is applicable to 2D ordered nanodots array of other magnetic materials.     

Spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy of nanoscale cobalt islands on Cu(111)

Spin-averaged and spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy at low temperature was performed on nanometer-scale triangular Co islands grown epitaxially on Cu(111) in the submonolayer coverage regime. Two structurally different island types can clearly be distinguished by their spin-averaged electronic structure. Spin-polarized measurements allow a separation of spectral contributions arising from different island stacking or from opposite magnetization states, respectively. In an applied magnetic field, both island types are found to be magnetized perpendicular to the surface, with large values of saturation field, remanence, and coercivity.     

Nickel nanofibers and nanowires: Elaboration by reduction in polyol medium assisted by external magnetic field

Nickel nanowires, with diameter 250 nm and a length of several microns, were prepared by the polyol process (chemical reduction) while an external magnetic field of 1.4 T has been applied during preparation. This combination has allowed the elaboration of Ni nanowires with a yield of over 90%. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that these nanowires crystallize with the face-centered-cubic structure. Magnetic static measurements showed the effect on the nanoparticles’ morphology of the external magnetic field applied during the synthesis. They also allowed studying the effect of the external magnetic field on the magnetic properties of nanowires as a function of their orientation. When nanowires are aligned parallel with magnetic field, the hysteresis loop obtained is very open with a coercivity field (Hc) value of 385 Oe and a high remanence to saturation ratio Mr/Ms of 0.85.     

Angular dependence of the coercivity and remanence of ordered arrays of Co nanowires

The angular dependence of the coercivity and remanence of ordered hexagonal arrays of Co nanowires prepared using anodic aluminum oxide templates was investigated. The experimental evolution of coercivity as a function of the angle, in which the external field is applied, is interpreted considering micromagnetic simulations. Depending on the angle between the axis of the wire and the applied magnetic field direction our results show that the magnetization reversal mode changes from vortex to a transverse domain wall. Besides, we observed that the dipolar interactions cause a reduction in coercive fields, mainly in the direction of easy magnetization of the nanowires. Good agreement between numerical and experimental data is obtained.     

纳米晶永磁Pr8Fe87B5反磁化机理研究

用熔体快淬法制备了Pr2Fe14B/α-Fe纳米复合永磁样品.测量了样品的起始磁化、反磁化过程、矫顽力和剩磁与外场的关系，以及样品的磁粘滞性.经分析认为材料的矫顽力主要由非均匀的钉扎机理决定，但由于交换硬化的软磁相的可逆转动使得这种反磁化机理不同于单相永磁材料的钉扎行为.磁粘滞性表明热激活主要源于硬磁相的不可逆磁化行为. 关键词： 纳米复合永磁 矫顽力 剩磁 磁粘滞     

Magnetic properties of elliptical and stadium-shaped nanoparticles: Effect of the shape anisotropy

Elliptical and stadium-shaped nanoparticles as a function of their geometry have been investigated using numerical simulations. The effect of the shape anisotropy of the particles on coercivity and remanence together with the angular dependence of the remanence and coercivity are addressed. Our results demonstrate that the stadium-shaped particles have many of the outstanding properties of elliptical particles, but also have unique properties, such that the coercivity and remanence remain stable for a wide range of geometry parameters, and exhibit a peculiar angular dependence in the coercivity. These properties suggest that they can be useful for applications in the area of magnetic recording systems.     

纳米晶永磁Pr2Fe14B微磁学有限元法的模拟计算研究

根据实验数据，构造了接近实际纳米晶永磁Pr2Fe14B的样品，用微磁学有限元法进行了模拟计算.计算结果表明，晶界处各向异性的下降会导致矫顽力减小、剩磁值增大，而晶界处交换作用常数的减小则会使剩磁值减小、矫顽力增大.通过对实验样品的模拟研究发现，晶界处各向异性和交换作用常数的共同减小能够同时拟合出真实的矫顽力和剩磁值.模拟计算与实验在退磁曲线形状上的差距则说明模拟还存在不足. 关键词： 纳米晶永磁 磁滞回线 矫顽力 剩磁     

Anti-function solution of uniaxial anisotropic Stoner-Wohlfarth model

The anti-trigonometric function is used to strictly solve the uniaxial anisotropic Stoner-Wohlfarth (SW) model, which can obtain the relation of the angle α (θ) between the magnetization (the anisotropy field) and the applied magnetic field. Using this analytic solution, the hysteresis loops of uniaxial anisotropic SW particles magnetized in typical directions could be numerically calculated. Then, the hysteresis loops are obtained in randomly distributed SW particle ensembles while ignoring the dipole interaction among them with the analytic solution. Finally, the correctness of the analytic solution is verified by the exact solutions of remanence, switching field, and coercivity from the SW model. The analytic solution provides an important reference for understanding the magnetizing and magnetization reversal processes of magnetic materials.     

磁性纳米颗粒系统偶极相互作用的Monte Carlo研究

采用局域Monte Carlo方法模拟不同易轴分布的简单立方排列单分散单畴Fe纳米颗粒系统的ZFC-FC曲线及磁滞回线.结果表明：随着偶极相互作用的增强，系统的阻塞温度T_B逐渐增大，且ZFC曲线的峰变宽.说明偶极相互作用使得系统的有效能垒提高，分布宽度增加.研究FC曲线磁化强度的倒数与温度关系，发现偶极相互作用系统中存在反铁磁有序.系统的阻塞态及超顺磁态的磁滞回线表明，极低低温下，随着偶极相互作用的增强，系统的矫顽力和剩磁减小，偶极相互作用阻碍系统的磁化；系统处于超顺磁态，各向异性作用及偶极相互作用使得系统的磁化曲线偏离Langevin曲线且偶极相互作用展现出退磁相互作用效应.偶极相互作用增强，系统磁化曲线与Langevin曲线偏差量的最大值向低场移动.在偶极相互作用下，易轴与外场夹角为45°的磁性纳米颗粒系统的平均有效能垒和有效能垒分布宽度较易轴随机分布系统的大.     

The role of dipolar interactions for the magnetic properties of ferromagnetic nanoring

We investigate numerically the effects of the dipolar interactions on magnetic properties in small ferromagnetic nanorings using a Monte Carlo technique. Our simulated results show that the strength of dipolar interaction in the magnetic nanoring has an important influence on the magnetization reversal processes and further the coercivity and the remanence. As the dipolar interaction increases, the transition of magnetization reversal processes from the onion-rotation state to the vortex state can occur, which results in an increase in coercivity and a decrease in remanence. On the other hand, it is found that the coercivity and the remanence depend more strongly on the strength of dipolar coupling for the relatively small size nanoring than for the large size nanoring in width. This can be attributed to the stable vortex state without core in smaller width nanoring in contrast to the metastable vortex state with core in larger width nanoring, induced by strong dipolar interactions. Additionally, the temperature dependence of coercivity and remanence in magnetic nanoring is also studied at a fixed dipolar interaction.     

Phase distribution and computed magnetic properties of high-remanent composite magnets

Numerical micromagnetic calculations using finite-element techniques allow a quantitative treatment of the correlation between the microstructure and the basic magnetic properties of two-phase permanent magnets such as the remanence, the coercive field and the maximum energy product. For the investigation of (A) the role of the amount of the soft magnetic phase, and (B) the effect of grain shape, realistic three-dimensional grain arrangements have been used. The numerical results show that both short-range exchange and long-range magnetostatic interactions determine the magnetic properties. The optimal microstructure of an isotropic nanocrystalline permanent magnet was found to consist of soft magnetic particles with a large spontaneous magnetization embedded between hard magnetic grains. Exchange interactions than enhance the remanence of isotropic, composite magnets of Nd₂Fe₁₄B and -Fe by about 60%. Because of exchange hardening the soft magnetic phase can be increased up to 50% without a significant loss of coercivity. A uniform grain structure suppresses strong demagnetizing fields and this increases coercivity by 30% as compared with irregular shaped particles.     

Out-of-plane coercive field of Ni80Fe20 antidot arrays

The out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy and out-of-plane magnetization reversal process of nanoscale Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ antidot arrays deposited by magnetron sputtering technique on an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane are investigated. The angular dependence of out-of-plane remanent magnetization of Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ antidot arrays shows that the maximum remanence is in-plane and the squareness of the out-of-plane hysteresis loop follow a |cos θ| dependence. The angular dependence of out-of-plane coercivity of Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ antidot arrays shows that the maximum coercivity lies on the surface of a cone with its symmetric axis normal to the sample plane, which indicates a transition of magnetic reversal from curling to coherent rotation when changing the angle between the applied magnetic field and the sample plane.     

Magnetization anisotropy of Ni dots with several tens of nanometer diameter

We have studied the magnetization of Ni dot with 50 to 70 nanometer diameter and 12 nanometer thickness using a magnetic force microscopy with an in-plane magnetic field. The Ni dots were prepared using self-assembled dot patterns with poly (styrene-b-methyl mathacrylate) diblock copolymers on Ni film and ion etching. It was found that the remanent magnetization direction of the dot was perpendicular to the plane as prepared. From the vibrating sample magnetometer measurement, a hysteresis loop was found in the perpendicular magnetization. When an in-plane external magnetic field was applied, the magnetization was rotated into a horizontal direction with low coercivity along the field direction.     

Photocurrent spectroscopy of InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots: observation of a permanent dipole moment

The nature of the confined electronic states in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots is studied using photocurrent spectroscopy measured as a function of applied electric field. A field asymmetry of the quantum confined Stark effect is observed, consistent with the dots possessing a permanent dipole moment. The sign of this dipole indicates that for zero field the hole wave function lies above that of the electron, in disagreement with the predictions of all recent calculations. Comparison with a theoretical model demonstrates that the experimentally determined alignment of the electron and hole can only be explained if the dots contain a non-zero and non-uniform Ga content.     

Magnetic behavior of nanocrystalline CoFe2O4

Magnetic nanoparticles of CoFe₂O₄ have been synthesized under an applied magnetic field through a co-precipitation method followed by thermal treatments at different temperatures, producing nanoparticles of varying size. The magnetic behavior of these nanoparticles was investigated. As-grown nanoparticles demonstrate superparamagnetism above the blocking temperature, which is dependent on the particle size. One of the nanoparticles demonstrated a constricted magnetic hysteresis loop with no or small coercivity and remanence at low magnetic field. However, the loop opens up at high magnetic field. This magnetic behavior is attributed to the preferred Co ions and vacancies arrangements when the CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles were synthesized under an applied magnetic field. Furthermore, this magnetic property is strongly dependent on the high temperature heat treatments that produce Co ions and vacancies disorder.     

Fabrication and magnetic properties of ordered 20 nm Co-Pb nanowire arrays

Ordered Co-Pb nanowire arrays embedded in anodic alumina template were successfully fabricated by electrodeposition. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) observations revealed that the Co-Pb nanowires were polycrystalline with uniform diameters around 20 nm and lengths up to several micrometers. Magnetic measurements showed that the coercivity and remanence of the as-deposited Co-Pb nanowires decreased with the increase of the Pb content. After annealing the Co-Pb nanowires present higher coercivities (2.4-2.5 kOe) than that of pure Co nanowires (2.1 kOe) and the dependence of coercivity and remanence on the Pb content is inconspicuous. A phase separation of Co and Pb occurred after annealing. The familiar pinning model was employed to explain the above experimental results.     

Effects of terbium sulfide addition on magnetic properties,microstructure and thermal stability of sintered Nd-Fe--B magnets

To increase coercivity and thermal stability of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets for high-temperature applications, a novel terbium sulfide powder is added into(Pr_(0.25)Nd_(0.75))_(30.6)Cu_(0.15)Fe_(bal)B_1(wt.%) basic magnets. The effects of the addition of terbium sulfide on magnetic properties, microstructure, and thermal stability of sintered Nd–Fe–B magnets are investigated.The experimental results show that by adding 3 wt.% Tb_2S_3, the coercivity of the magnet is remarkably increased by about 54% without a considerable reduction in remanence and maximum energy product. By means of the electron probe microanalyzer(EPMA) technology, it is observed that Tb is mainly present in the outer region of 2:14:1 matrix grains and forms a well-developed Tb-shell phase, resulting in enhancement of HA, which accounts for the coercivity enhancement.Moreover, compared with Tb_2S_3-free magnets, the reversible temperature coefficients of remanence(α) and coercivity(β) and the irreversible flux loss of magnetic flow(hirr) values of Tb_2S_3-added magnets are improved, indicating that the thermal stability of the magnets is also effectively improved.