Micromagnetic simulation of magnetic vortex cores in circular permalloy disks: Switching behavior in external magnetic field

Switching behaviors of magnetic vortex cores under external magnetic field in submicron circular permalloy disks have been systematically studied by using micromagnetic simulations. Simulation results show that the vortex core is stable in out-of-plane field even when it is located at the edge of the disk. The out-of-plane switching field H_sw is strongly dependent on the thickness of the disk. The core polarity and the vortex chirality can be modulated simultaneously on purpose by using a tilted field far smaller than the out-of-plane switching field H_sw. Moreover, it is found that the core polarities in asymmetric disks do not follow the direction of the z projection of the external saturation field.     

Temperature dependence of switching field distribution in a NiFe wire with a pad

The distribution of switching fields (H_sw) in a NiFe wire was investigated as a function of temperature between 5 and 300 K. The sample structure under investigation is Ta/NiFe/Cu/NiFe wire (150 nm width) connecting to a square pad (large area) at an end. Magnetization reversal phenomena are very sensitively detected using the giant magnetoresistance effect. With repeating magnetoresistance measurements, we obtained a histogram of H_sw with three narrow peaks at each temperature. The origin of three peaks can be attributed to the existence of three different kinds of magnetic domain structures at the pad area, which was confirmed by magnetic force microscopy observation.     

Vortex chirality control in magnetic submicron dots with asymmetrical magnetic properties in lateral direction

The authors use micromagnetic simulation to investigate the magnetization reversal process of a new ferromagnetic submicron dot structure composed of a lateral gradient magnetization. The reversal process in this new structure begins at the both edges along and is perpendicular to the applied magnetic field due to introducing a demagnetizing field from the interface of the magnetization gradient. This leads to a two-stage nucleation process. Based on the analytical results, a novel submicron structure with a quarter of lateral gradient magnetization is proposed to control the chirality of a vortex, which is important for applications that use the vortex's chirality.     

Calculations of three-dimensional magnetic excitations in permalloy nanostructures with vortex state

Dynamic susceptibility spectra of the vortex state in nanorings and nanodots are studied using three-dimensional micromagnetic simulations. Spatial maps of the susceptibility have enabled identification of various resonance modes. For an exciting field along the x axis, several resonance peaks appear for a thin dot, including a core mode, whereas only one main resonance peak is detected for a ring corresponding to a volume mode with uniform magnetization perpendicular to the exciting field (x direction). A low-frequency resonance peak related to a surface mode and a high-frequency resonance peak viewed as an edge mode are additionally observed for a thick ring. These three resonance modes (surface, volume and edge modes) which correspond to low, intermediate and high-frequency resonance peaks, respectively, are also captured for an exciting field along the y axis. In addition, a mixed edge and volume mode is revealed at a higher frequency.     

Field-dependent evolution of magnetic states in Co ring arrays

We present a systematic study of field-dependent evolution in the magnetization reversal process of elongated Co ring arrays using in-situ field magnetic force microscopy. We observed that, the rings typically undergo a uniform→onion→vortex→reverse onion→reverse uniform spin-state transition as the field is swept along the major axis of the rings. However, the switching field distribution in the arrays generally leads to each transition occupying a wide range of fields, which results in the observation of coexistence of different magnetization states at lower field. The magnetization reversal sequence has also been verified by micromagnetic simulations, which show good agreement with our experimental data.     

Quantitative analysis of magnetization reversal in patterned strip wire by magnetic force microscopy

Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) was used to investigate the magnetization reversal process in a patterned strip wire of permalloy thin film. The magnitude of the phase-shift of tapping mode MFM changed with the varying interactive magnetic force between the magnetic tip and the sample. By analyzing the change in values of the phase-shift, the behaviors of magnetization reversal of different local regions in a patterned strip wire can be quantitatively analyzed. The intensity of the phase-shift in the wider end is stronger than that in the narrower one. In contrast, due to a strong anisotropic effect, the coercive force in the narrower end (9 Oe) is larger than that in the wider one (8 Oe). Therefore, the H_c in the neck section could become strongly affected by the competition of the head-to-tail magnetic configurations in the two parts of the strip wire, and this results in a small H_c in the neck section. In addition, in a simple neck shape connection in a strip NiFe wire, a single domain configuration can be easily changed to a two single domain magnetic configuration.     

MFM probe control of magnetic vortex chirality in elliptical Co nanoparticles

Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) methods were applied to investigate the peculiarities of magnetization distribution in elliptical 400×600×27 nm Co particles. Reversible transitions between the uniform and vortex states under inhomogeneous magnetic field of MFM probe were observed. Possibility to control the chirality of a magnetic vortex in these particles by MFM probe manipulation was shown.     

Reliable control of magnetic vortex chirality in asymmetrically optimized magnetic nanodisk

Magnetic vortex has attracted attention in the field of information storage because their topological spin structures with chiral bistable states. If the vortex core polarity and vortex circulation sense can be controlled simultaneously in a nanodisk, which will be more beneficial to realize the multi-bit ultrahigh density storage. In this paper, a reliable control scheme for magnetic vortex chirality is proposed by optimizing the structure of Pac-Man-like nanodisk. The results show that the polarity and circulation of the vortex can be controlled simultaneously by changing the direction of the global magnetic field, and even the chiral states of the vortex can be determined by detecting the stray field distribution on the surface of the nanodisk. The optimized Pac-Man-like nanodisk provide an experimental method for the control and detection of magnetic vortex chirality, which will be beneficial to the realization of multi-bit magnetic storage or magnetic logic technology in the future.     

Cancellation of fine-structure splitting in quantum dots by a magnetic field

We demonstrate control of the fine-structure splitting of the exciton emission lines in single InAs quantum dots by the application of an in-plane magnetic field. The composition of the barrier material and the size and symmetry of the quantum dot are found to determine decrease or increase in the linear polarization splitting of the dominant exciton emission lines with increasing magnetic field. This enables the selection of dots for which the splitting can to be tuned to zero, within the resolution of our experiments. General differences in the g-factors and exchange splittings are found for different types of dot.     

Magnetoresistive measurement of switching behavior in nano-structured magnetic dot arrays

In the present study, geometrical and thermal effects in a mesoscopic magnetization reversal process have been studied on a novel nano-structure of magnetic relief dot with magnetoresistive measurements. Only the top layer of a substrate/CoPt(10 nm)/Cu(10 nm)/NiFe(6, 12 nm) film was structured into rectangular dots with various lengths (L) and widths (W) down to 0.2 μm. Coercive fields of NiFe relief dots (W=0.2 μm) systematically decrease with the decrease of L/W, as predicted from demagnetizing factors in single domain particle. About 50% reduction of H_c due to a temperature rise, from 5 to 300 K, demonstrates considerable thermal activation in the magnetization reversal of nano-structured magnetic particles.     

Micromagnetic study of magnetic domain structure and magnetization reversal in amorphous wires with circular anisotropy

In this work we present a detailed numerical investigation on the magnetic domain formation and magnetization reversal mechanism in sub-millimeter amorphous wires with negative magnetostriction by means of micromagnetic calculations. The formation of circular magnetic domains surrounding a multidomain axially oriented central nucleus was observed for the micromagnetic model representing the amorphous wire. The magnetization reversal explained by micromagnetic computations for the M-H curve is described in terms of a combined nucleation-propagation−rotational mechanism after the saturated state. Results are interpreted in terms of the effective magnetic anisotropy.     

Charged excitons in quantum dots: novel magnetic behavior and Auger processes

We describe theoretically multiply-charged excitons interacting with a continuum of delocalized states. Such excitons exist in relatively shallow quantum dots and have been observed in recent optical experiments on InAs self-assembled dots. The interaction of an exciton and delocalized states occurs via Auger-like processes. To describe the optical spectra, we employ the Anderson-like Hamiltonian by including the interaction between the localized exciton and delocalized states of the wetting layer. In the absence of a magnetic field, the photoluminescence line shapes exhibit interference effects. When a magnetic field is applied, the photoluminescence spectrum demonstrates anticrossings with the Landau levels of the extended states. We show that the magnetic-field behavior of charged excitons is very different to that of diamagnetic excitons in three and two-dimensional systems.     

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.     

Dynamics of sandwich domain structure in Co-based amorphous ribbons with helical magnetic anisotropy: Part I

The distribution of axes of easy magnetization close to a homogeneous distribution is revealed in each half-thickness of a ribbon after annealing it in a helical magnetic field. The transition from magnetic reversal of a ribbon by the displacement of two domain walls formed near a middle plane of a ribbon to magnetic reversal of a ribbon by displacement of two domain walls formed near to the main surfaces of a ribbon is found out during each half-period of a magnetic reversal.     

The binding energy of hydrogen-like impurity in quantum dots with convex bottom in magnetic field

Within the framework of effective mass approximation and variational method, the electronic and impurity states in spherical quantum dots with convex bottom in magnetic field are calculated. Calculations are carried out both for on-center and off-center impurities. The impurity binding energy dependencies on radius, measure of convexity of quantum dot bottom, impurity position and magnetic field induction are obtained for the Ga_1-xAl_xAs/Ga_1-yAl_yAs system.     

Second-harmonic generation in asymmetric quantum dots in the presence of a static magnetic field

The second-harmonic generation(SHG) coefficient in an asymmetric quantum dot(QD) with a static magnetic field is theoretically investigated.Within the framework of the effective-mass approximation,we obtain the confined wave functions and energies of electrons in the QD.We also obtain the SHG coefficient by the compact-density-matrix approach and the iterative method.The numerical results for the typical GaAs/AlGaAs QD show that the SHG coefficient depends strongly on the magnitude of magnetic field,parameters of the asymmetric potential and the radius of the QD.The resonant peak shifts with the magnetic field or the radius of the QD changing.     

Magnetic properties of 2D nano-islands II: Ising spin model with out-of-plane magnetic field

An Ising effective field theory model is presented to calculate the magnetic properties of 2D nano-islands on a nonmagnetic substrate, subject to an externally out-of-plane applied magnetic field. The system Hamiltonian contains nearest neighbor exchange interactions, single-atom magnetic anisotropies, and the Zeeman term. The calculations yield, in particular, the single site spin correlations, the magnetizations, and the isothermal susceptibilities, for the core and periphery domains of the nano-island. The choice of a spin S=1 for the atoms of the system permits the analysis of local spin fluctuations via the single site spin correlations. We investigate in this respect the effects due to the different magnetocrystalline anisotropies and reduced dimensionalities, for the core and periphery domains, and in particular the critical influence of the applied magnetic field. Detailed theoretical results are presented for the square and hexagonal lattice symmetries, with numerical applications for the 2D monolayer Co nano-islands on a Pt substrate. It is shown that the remarkable differences between the magnetic properties of the core and periphery domains in zero field are washed out when an out-of-plane field is applied. The applied field also provokes critical discontinuities for the spin correlations and magnetization reversals, for the core and periphery domains, which are especially evident for the hexagonal lattice nano-island in the range of fields of interest. The discontinuities and magnetization reversals occur over elementary temperature widths, and shift to lower temperatures with increasing field. The field-dependant isothermal susceptibilities show new features very different from those for the susceptibilities in zero field. The present Ising model does not show any blocking temperature transition to superparamagnetism.     

Picosecond control of coherent magnetisation dynamics in permalloy thin films by picosecond magnetic field pulse shaping

We have measured the response of a 20×10 μm, 8 nm thin NiFe (80:20) permalloy film due to excitation by short in-plane magnetic field pulses. We will show that using a two-pulse-technique a complete control of the precessional motion of the magnetisation can be achieved on picosecond timescales. Furthermore, we will present numerical calculations which show that a complete suppression of magnetisation ringing after switching can only be realised by a cascade of short field pulses.     

Symmetric behavior of vortex states of superconducting networks in a magnetic field

We present magnetic field dependence of phase transition temperature and vortex configuration of superconducting networks based on theoretical study. The applied magnetic field is called “filling field” that is defined by applied magnetic flux (in unit of the flux quantum) per unit loop of the superconducting network. If a superconducting network is composed of very thin wires whose thicknesses are less than coherence length, the de Gennes–Alexander (dGA) theory is applicable. We have already shown that field dependences of transition temperature curves have symmetric behavior about the filling field of 1/2 by solving the dGA equation numerically in square lattices, honeycomb lattices, cubic lattices and those with randomly lack of wires networks. Many experimental studies also show the symmetric behavior. In this paper, we make an explicit theoretical explanation of symmetric behaviors of superconducting network respect to the applied field.     

Implementation of Kohn's theorem for the ellipsoidal quantum dot in the presence of external magnetic field

An electron gas in a strongly oblated ellipsoidal quantum dot with impenetrable walls in the presence of external magnetic field is considered. Influence of the walls of the quantum dot is assumed to be so strong in the direction of the minor axis (the OZ axis) that the Coulomb interaction between electrons in this direction can be neglected and considered as two-dimensional. On the basis of geometric adiabaticity we show that in the case of a few-particle gas a powerful repulsive potential of the quantum dot walls has a parabolic form and localizes the gas in the geometric center of the structure. Due to this fact, conditions occur to implement the generalized Kohn theorem for this system. The parabolic confinement potential depends on the geometry of the ellipsoid, which allows, together with the magnetic field to control resonance frequencies of transitions by changing the geometric dimensions of the QD.