Features of magnetic reversal of highly anisotropic uniaxial ferromagnets

Specificity of magnetization and magnetization reversal processes of highly anisotropic uniaxial ferromagnets, caused by the possibility of microvolumes of a material to exist in multidomain and single-domain states, is discussed. The influence of the demagnetization method on the behavior of the magnetization curves, thermal magnetization, and ambiguity of the shape of Henkel plots is shown by the example of the SmCo₅ and Nd₂Fe₁₄B compounds.     

Magnetization reversal within Dzyaloshinskii—Moriya interaction under on-site Coulomb interaction in BiCrO3

First-principals calculations show that magnetization reversal is accompanied by the opposite sense of rotation of the neighboring oxygen octahedra along the [1 1 1] direction which is called the antiferrodistortive displacement in BiCrO3. The coupling between magnetization and antiferrodistortive distortion is mainly caused by Dzyaloshinskii- Moriya interaction which is driven by the eg-eg states antiferromagnetic interaction in Cr-3d. A critical value of on-site Coulomb interaction prohibiting the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and thus the magnetization reversal is found to be 1.3 eV.     

Magnetization reversal in granular thin films

The paper discusses the physics of magnetization reversal in granular magnetic films. It gives an overview of the key physical properties that determine the collective and macroscopically observable magnetization reversal behavior. In particular, the multitude of observable hysteresis loops is reduced to three key physical quantities, namely the single grain switching field distribution D(h_s), the inter-granular exchange coupling constant J_ex, and the magnetostatic interaction constant J_ms. By varying the relative influence of these quantities, many different shapes of hysteresis loops can occur, which is documented by experimental examples. The regime of partially and strongly correlated reversal is discussed in detail, and minor loop measurements are presented that show scaling behavior for strongly correlated magnetization reversal in the vicinity of hysteresis loop criticality.     

Contribution of magnetostatic interaction to magnetization reversal of Fe3Pt nanowires arrays: A micromagnetic simulation

Using the micromagnetic simulations, we have investigated the magnetization reversal and magnetostatic interaction of Fe₃Pt nanowires arrays with wire diameters lower than 40 nm. By changing the number of interacting nanowires, N, interwire distance, a, and wire diameter, D, the effects of magnetostatic interaction on coercivity and remanence are investigated in detail. According to the simulated results, the contribution to the stray field induced by surface perpendicular magnetization at the end of wires is established.     

Study of the magnetic interaction in nanocrystalline Pr-Fe-Co-Nb-B permanent magnets

The magnetic properties of an isotropic, epoxy resin bonded magnets made from Pr-Fe-Co-Nb-B powder were investigated. The magnetization reversal process and magnetic parameters were examined by measurements of the initial magnetization curve, major and minor hysteresis loops and sets of recoil curves. From the initial magnetization curve and the field dependencies of the reversible and irreversible magnetization components derived from the recoil loops it was found that the magnetization reversal process is the combination of the nucleation of reversed domains and pinning of domain walls at the grain boundaries and the reversible rotation of magnetization vector in single domain grains. The interactions between grains were studied by means of δM plots. The nonlinear behavior of δM curve approve that the short range intergrain exchange coupling interactions are dominant in a field up to the sample coercivity.The interaction domains and fine magnetic structure were revealed as the evidence of exchange coupling between soft α-Fe and hard magnetic Nd₂Fe₁₄B grains.     

GdFeCo磁光薄膜中RE-TM反铁磁耦合与激光感应超快磁化翻转动力学研究

使用飞秒时间分辨抽运-探测磁光克尔光谱技术,研究了激光加热GdFeCo磁光薄膜跨越铁磁补偿温度时稀土-过渡金属(RE-TM)反铁磁交换耦合行为和超快磁化翻转动力学. 实验观察到由于跨越铁磁补偿温度、净磁矩携带者交换而引起的磁化翻转反常克尔磁滞回线以及在同向外磁场下,反常回线上大于和小于矫顽力部分的饱和磁化强度不同,显示出GdFeCo中RE与TM之间的非完全刚性反铁磁耦合. 在含有Al导热底层的GdFeCo薄膜上观测到饱和磁场下激光感应磁化态翻转及再恢复的完整超快动力学过程. 与剩磁态的激光感应超快退磁化过 关键词： 补偿温度 磁化翻转 反铁磁耦合 GdFeCo     

Change in the magnetic moment of a ferromagnetic nanoparticle under polarized current

The magnetization reversal of a ferromagnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle with a volume of the order of several thousands of cubic nanometers under the influence of spin-polarized current has been investigated on a high-vacuum scanning tunneling microscope, where one of the electrodes is a magnetized iron wire needle and the second electrode is a ferromagnetic nanoparticle on a graphite substrate. The measured threshold current of magnetization reversal, i.e., the lowest value of the current corresponding to the magnetization reversal, is found to be I_thresh ≈ 9 nA. A change in the magnetization of a nanoparticle is revealed using the giant magnetoresistance effect, i.e., the dependence of the weak polarized current (I < I_thresh) on the relative orientation of the magnetizations of the electrodes.     

Mesoscopic oscillations of the magnetization near Ising impurity centers in strong magnetic fields

The frequency of orientational quantum oscillations of the magnetization near impurity-ion clusters with Ising properties in a saturated magnetic crystal is calculated. It is noted that in compounds of the type Ho_xY_3−x Fe₅O₁₂, where magnetic phase transitions are observed, additional magnetization reversal and magnetic resonance features due to mesoscopic oscillations of the magnetization can be observed at low concentrations x<0.001 and cryogenic temperatures in fields comparable to the intersublattice exchange interaction field. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 6, 445–448 (25 March 1997)     

Structure and magnetic properties of Fe1.14Cr1.86Se4 ferrimagnet: Negative magnetization and its dependence on magnetic field

Small single crystals of the Fe_1.14(7)Cr_1.86(8)Se_4.0(2) ferrimagnet were grown using chemical vapor transport. Fe_1.14Cr_1.86Se₄ adopts the Cr₃S₄ structure with two metal sites. The magnetic behavior of Fe_1.14Cr_1.86Se₄ can be described by two magnetic sublattices with different magnetization values and different temperature dependencies. Depending on the experimental conditions, such as the strength and direction of the cooling field, magnetization reversal, large negative magnetization and high-temperature compensation point may result. If the cooling field exceeds 1.5 Oe, magnetization reversal occurs at low temperatures. If the cooling and applied fields are opposite, a large negative magnetization and high-temperature compensation point are observed.     

Effect of the morphology on the mechanisms of the magnetization reversal of multilayered thin Co/Pd films

A comparative study of the magnetization curves of continuous and porous multilayered Pd_10nm/[Co_0.3nm]/Pd_0.55nm]15/Pd_2nm films deposited on an anodized TiO₂ template was performed by magnetometry. Based on the comparison of the dependences of coercive field H_C on angle θ between the easy-magnetization axis and the direction of external magnetic field H with theoretical dependences H_C(θ) for the magnetization reversal by domain walls motion (according to the Kondorski model) and the rotation of magnetic moments (by the Stoner–Wohlfarth model), the differences in the mechanisms of magnetization reversal for two mentioned types of the films were revealed. The correlation between the difference in the morphologies of the continuous and porous films and revealed change in the mechanisms of the magnetization reversal, as well as the changes in values of H_C and calculated constants of the magnetic anisotropy, is discussed.     

Kinetics of magnetization reversal in a thin La<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.3</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> manganite film

The kinetics of magnetization reversal of a thin LSMO film has been studied for the first time. It is shown that the magnetic domain structure critically depends on the conditions of structure formation. In the demagnetized state (after zero-field cooling from T _c ), a maze-like domain microstructure with perpendicular magnetization is formed in the film. However, after field cooling and/or saturating magnetization by a field of arbitrary orientation, the [110] direction of spontaneous magnetization in the film plane is stabilized; this pattern corresponds to macrodomains with in-plane magnetization. Further film magnetization reversal (both quasi-static and pulsed) from this state is implemented via nucleation and motion of 180° “head-to-head” domain walls. Upon pulse magnetization reversal, the walls “jump” at a distance proportional to the applied field strength and then undergo thermally activated drift. All dynamic characterisitcs critically depend on the temperature when the latter varies around the room temperature.     

Influence of Pt thickness on magnetization reversal processes in (Pt/Co)3 multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy

We present a detailed study of the magnetization reversal in perpendicularly magnetized (Pt/Co)₃ multilayers with different values of the platinum interlayer thickness t_Pt. To study the magnetization reversal in our samples we combined measurements of relaxation curves with the direct visualization of domain structures. Magnetization reversal was dominated by domain wall propagation for t_Pt=1 nm and by domain nucleation for t_Pt=0.2 nm, while a mixed process was observed for t_Pt=0.8 nm. We interpret our results within the framework of a model of thermally activated reversal where a distribution of activation energy barriers is taken into account. The reversal process was correlated with the energy barrier distribution.     

Magnetic properties of polycrystalline films of CoCr2O4 and CoFe0.5Cr1.5O4 multiferroics

This paper reports on the first study of the magnetic properties of polycrystalline films of CoCr₂O₄ and CoFe_0.5Cr_1.5O₄ multiferroics. The study covered, in particular, magnetization reversal curves and temperature dependences of the magnetization at temperatures ranging from 4.2 to 300 K in magnetic fields of up to 10 kOe. It has been shown that the Curie temperature and the pattern of the temperature dependence of the magnetization depend on the cation composition of the multiferroic. The temperature dependence of the magnetization of polycrystalline CoCr₂O₄ films has revealed an anomaly in the temperature range 10–70 K.     

Effects of soft layer softness on the magnetic properties of perpendicular exchange-coupled nanocomposite films

The anisotropy of the soft layer in the Co_100−xPt_x/Co₇₁Pt₂₉ (x=0, 7 and 17) perpendicular exchange-coupled composite (ECC) films was varied by changing the Pt content. The effects of soft layer softness (thickness and anisotropy) on the coercivity and magnetization reversal mechanisms of ECC were studied. Results showed that both remanence ratio (M_r/M_s) and coercivity of the ECC films reduced with an increase in soft layer thickness. However, the rate of coercivity reduction reduced when soft layer anisotropy was increased simultaneously. This was confirmed by the following facts. For the ECC with Co soft layer, the magnetization reversal mechanism within the ECC grains changed from coherent rotation to domain wall motion when soft layer thickness was changed from 2 to 15 nm. The impact of soft layer thickness on the magnetization reversals of the ECC grains reduced with an increase in soft layer anisotropy. On the other hand, the change of soft layer easy axis direction could possibly change the reversal mechanism of the ECC grains. The above experimental results showed that the coercivity of ECC film was controlled by the reversal mechanism inside the ECC grains.     

Magnetization reversal dynamics in Au/Co/Au(111) ultrathin films: Effect of roughness of the buffer layer

We present a study of the magnetization reversal dynamics in ultrathin Au/Co/Au films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, for a Co thickness of 0.5, 0.7 and 1 nm. In these films, the magnetization reversal is dominated by domain nucleation for t_Co=0.5, 0.7 nm and by domain wall propagation for t_Co=1 nm. The prevalence of domain nucleation for the thickness range 0.5-0.7 nm is different from results reported in the literature, for the same system and for the same thickness range, where the magnetization reversal took place mainly by domain wall motion. We attribute this difference to the effect of roughness of the Au buffer layer on the morphology of the magnetic layer.     

Galvanomagnetic properties of thin films with unidirectional anisotropy

Galvanomagnetic effect was used for studying the magnetization reversal processes in thin NiFe-NiFeMn films with the unidirectional anisotropy. The experimental results were compared with the simple coherent magnetization rotation model. A large contribution of rotation of the magnetization vectorM _s to the reversal process in easy direction was found (around 22°). The dependence of angular dispersion ₄₅ on external fieldH was also measured.     

Magnetization behavior of nanomagnets for patterned media application

Bit patterned media (BPM) which utilize each magnetic nanostructured dot as one recorded bit has attracted much interest as a promising candidate for future high-density magnetic recording. In this study, the magnetization reversal behaviors of nanostructured L1₀-FePt, Co/Pt multilayer (ML), and CoPt/Ru dots are investigated. For Co/Pt and CoPt/Ru nanodots, the bi-stable state is maintained in a very wide size range up to several hundred nm, and the magnetization reversal is dominated by the nucleation of a small reversed nucleus with the dimension of domain wall width. On the other hand, the critical size for the bi-stability of L1₀-FePt is about 60 nm, and its magnetization reversal proceeds via domain wall displacement even for such a small dot size. These reversal behaviors, depending on the magnetic materials, might be attributed to the difference in structural inhomogeneity, such as defects. In addition to the magnetic properties, the structural uniformity of the material could be crucial for the BPM application.     

Magnetic properties of Co/Pd multilayered films on porous Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> templates with developed cell substructure

We studied the structure and magnetic properties of porous multilayered Co/Pd films deposited on the templates of anodized Al₂O₃ with a specific surface morphology that is characterized by a cellular–porous structure with several pores inside each cell. X-ray diffraction analysis and reflectometry are used to study the peculiarities of the formation of phases in deposited films. The effect of morphological features of porous Co/Pd films on their magnetoanisotropic properties and magnetization reversal processes (magnetization reversal mechanisms, domain structure of films, and coercive field H _c ) is revealed by SQUID magnetometry and magnetic force microscopy.     

Effect of the soft layer thickness on magnetization reversal process of exchange-spring nanomagnet patterns

A systematic study of the magnetization reversal behavior in the regular arrangement of L1₀-FePt based exchange-spring nanomagnets with different thicknesses of the Co soft magnetic layer is presented. The magnetic property of the hard magnet is compared to two tuned exchange-spring magnets: its systems of 20 nm L1₀-FePt/3 nm, and 7 nm Co. In particular, we focus on the switching field distribution. The exchange coupling showed narrower SFD, in spite of the decoupled part switches earlier. The magnetization switching mechanism of exchange-spring nanomagnets patterns has been revealed with a first-order reversal curves technique and the switching field distribution. Further, the microscopic results using magnetic force microscopy show that the spin rotation of the non-interacting part in the thicker soft layered exchange-spring magnet. The part influences the magnetization reversal process. According to the experimental results, exchange coupling strength can be tuned by the thickness of the soft magnetic layer.