MFM study of magnetic vortex cores in circular permalloy dots: behavior in external field

In a circular dot of permalloy with an appropriate size, a vortex structure with perpendicular (turned-up) magnetization at the core is realized. The existence of the perpendicular magnetization spot has been confirmed and the direction of the magnetization, up or down, has been determined by magnetic force microscopy (MFM) for permalloy dots with the diameter of 0.1–1 μm. The switching field of turned-up magnetization is determined by applying external fields perpendicularly and in tilted directions to the plane. By comparing the MFM results and the magnetization curves measured by a SQUID magnetometer, the switching process of turned-up magnetization is argued.     

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.     

MFM imaging of micron-sized permalloy ellipses

The magnetic domain structure of micron-sized elliptic permalloy elements has been studied by magnetic force microscope (MFM) measurements, and has been compared to results from micromagnetic simulations. The elements all have the same aspect ratio, whereas the inter-elemental distance has been varied. Both the zero-field states and in field domain configurations have been studied. In zero-applied field, two different stable flux-closure states were found in both the MFM measurements and in the simulations. The different stable domain states occur as a result of minute differences in the local magnetic environment occurring during the demagnetization process.     

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.     

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.     

Micromagnetic simulation of magnetization reversal in controlled mesoscopic ferromagnetic junction

Magnetisation switching process and corresponding domain structures of mesoscopic ferromagnetic junction with different thickness are studied with micromagnetic simulation using Landau–Lifshiz–Gilbert equations. It is demonstrated by simulation results that the reversal process and switching field are dominated by the wide pad parts and only weakly depend on the wire parts.     

Phase field simulation of spinodal decomposition under external magnetic field

A computational model was developed to simulate the spinodal decomposition process of ferromagnetic alloys under an external magnetic field. In this model, the temporal evolution of the modulated structure was described by a phase field method, and the magnetic configuration was solved by using a micromagnetic method. The spinodal decomposition and coarsening processes of a single magnetic particle and an A-B hypothetical system under an external magnetic field were simulated using the proposed model. The simulation results show that the precipitated particles were elongated along the direction of the external magnetic field. The dependence of the modulated structure of an A-B hypothetic system on external magnetic field is much more sensitive than that of the single particle structure. The simulation results also demonstrate that the modulation of the external magnetic field is effective even if the spinodal decomposition has been completed and a stable modulated structure was formed.     

Vortex dynamics mediated by exchange coupling in permalloy double disks

The dynamics of magnetic vortices in double disks coupled with a bridge are studied by micromagnetic simulations. There are three types of magnetic configurations being found, which depend on the size of the bridge and the chiralities of the vortices. The exchange coupling between the vortices, which is mediated by the magnetizations in the bridge, influences the trajectories and oscillation frequencies of the vortices. Moreover, the frequency depends on the configurations of the double disks and the bridge size.     

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.     

Effects of damping constant on gyrotropic motion and switching of vortex core in permalloy disk

We investigate the influence of damping constant on the dynamics process of the magnetic vortex in submicron-size permalloy disks by micromagnetic simulations and analytical calculations. Both of them reveal that damping constant influences the trajectory of vortex core gyrotropic motion strongly. Comparing with the case of no damping constant, the steady-state trajectory of vortex core motion becomes ellipse as the amplitude of the oscillating magnetic filed is small. The ellipse becomes more slab-sided and tilting with increasing of damping constant, and the tilting direction is also dependent on the vortex core polarization. As the amplitude of the magnetic field increases to a value, the polarization of the vortex core will reverse and a new vortex with opposite polarization will be produced. With increasing of damping constant, the minimum oscillating magnetic field amplitude H_S0 that can reverse the polarization of the vortex core increases proportionally.     

Micromagnetic simulations on detection of magnetic labelled biomolecules using MR sensors

In this work, we present a study of the interaction between the magnetic particles used in biological applications and the giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR) sensor. The fractional change in resistance, and hence the sensitivity, will be maximized by matching, as far as possible, the size of the sensor to the size of the beads and by carefully positioning the beads over the sensor. We found, by micromagnetic simulations, that the amount of the surface coverage with magnetic particles may affect the magnetization curve of the sensor and will change the field dependence of the GMR response.     

Comparison of the soft magnetic properties of permalloy and conetic thin films

The soft magnetic properties of the substrate/[non-buffer or buffer Ta]/[permalloy (Ni₈₀Fe₂₀) or conetic (Ni₇₇Fe₁₄Cu₅Mo₄)]/Ta prepared by ion beam sputter deposition are investigated. The value of the surface resistance of the conetic film is twice as high as that of the permalloy film. The value of the coercivity and magnetic susceptibility of the conetic film decreased by 25% and doubled relative to that of the permalloy film. The coercivity, with a value of 0.12 Oe, and the magnetic susceptibility, with a value of 1.2×10⁴ for the conetic film, are suitable for soft magnetic biosensor applications.     

Micromagnetic analysis of unusual, V-shaped domain transitions in MnAs nanowires

V-shaped domain transitions in α‐MnAs nanowires were investigated by micromagnetic simulations. These rather unusual domain patterns are commonly observed experimentally by surface-sensitive magnetic imaging techniques. It has been speculated that the accompanying inclined domain walls in MnAs are the result of either an exchange biasing effect between ferromagnetic α‐MnAs wires and antiferromagnetic β‐MnAs wires or possibly due to competing exchange mechanisms in MnAs. Here we present evidence that these domain features are in fact transitions between three-dimensional flux-closure domains of opposite chirality and can therefore rule out the involvement of an antiferromagnetic biasing effect or anisotropic exchange. The formation of the energetically unfavorable V-shaped domain transitions is discussed in the context of the magneto-structural phase transition of the sample.     

Phase field simulation of microstructure evolution in Fe-Cr-Co alloy during thermal magnetic treatment and step aging

The evolution of modulated structures in Fe-Cr-Co alloys during isothermal aging under an external magnetic field and multiple step aging was simulated based on a phase field method. In this simulation, the magnetic configuration during the decomposition was calculated by a micromagnetic method, and the chemical Gibbs energy function was calculated by the CALPHAD approach based on the experimental equilibrium phase diagram. The calculation results provide a quantitative microstructure change directly linked to the phase diagram and demonstrate obvious microstructure difference between isothermal aging and multiple aging. The ferromagnetic precipitates elongate along the direction of the external magnetic field. The simulated evolution and microstructure are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Shifting and pinning of a magnetic vortex core in a permalloy dot by a magnetic field

Magnetic pinning in thin films seems to be a major research subject in the near future, as it is involved in all switching processes which include a movement of a domain wall or a magnetic vortex. We used Lorentz transmission electron microscopy and vortex pinning at artificial pinning sites to investigate the pinning behavior of magnetic vortices for the first time with high spatial resolution.     

磁涡旋极性翻转的局域能量

针对坡莫合金纳米圆盘中的单个磁涡旋结构,采用微磁学模拟研究了磁涡旋极性翻转过程中的局域能量密度.磁涡旋的极性翻转通过与初始涡旋极性相反的涡旋与反涡旋对的生成,以及随后发生的反涡旋与初始涡旋的湮没来实现.模拟结果显示当纳米圆盘样品中局域能量密度的最大值达到一临界值时,磁涡旋将会实现极性翻转,其中交换能起主导作用.基于涡旋极性翻转过程中出现的三涡旋态结构,应用刚性磁涡旋模型对局域交换能量密度进行了理论分析.通过刚性磁涡旋模型得到的磁涡旋极性翻转所需的局域交换能量密度的临界值与模拟结果符合得较好.     

Field-controllable injection of virtual magnetic domain wall in discrete magnetic nanodot chains

Periodic injection behaviors of virtual magnetic domain wall (VDW) have been systematically investigated in asymmetrically shaped nanodot chains by means of micromagnetic simulations. Systematic investigation on a controllable VDW injection has been carried out. We demonstrate that precise control of VDW injection is achievable by using different nanodot shapes as well as by changing alternating magnetic field (AC field) profiles. The VDW position can be tuned by adjusting AC field frequency and amplitude. Field-controllable periodic VDW injection phenomenon is found to be sustainable over wide ranges of phase diagram spanned by AC field frequency and amplitude.     

Switching of vortex polarization in 2D easy-plane magnets by magnetic fields

We investigate the dynamics of out-of-plane (OP) vortices, in a 2-dimensional (2D) classical Heisenberg magnet with a weak anisotropy in the coupling of z-components of spins (easy plane anisotropy), on square lattices, under the influence of a rotating in-plane (IP) magnetic field. Switching of the z-component of magnetization of the vortex is studied in computer simulations as a function of the magnetic field's amplitude and frequency. The effects of the size and the anisotropy of the system on the switching process are shown. An approximate dynamical equivalence of the system, in the bulk limit, to another system with both IP and OP static fields in the rotating reference frame is demonstrated, and qualitatively the same switching and critical behavior is obtained in computer simulations for both systems. We briefly discuss the interplay between finite size effects (image vortices) and the applied field in the dynamics of OP vortices. In the framework of a discrete reduced model of the vortex core we propose a mechanism for switching the vortex polarization, which can account qualitatively for all our results. A coupling between the IP movement (trajectories) of the vortex center and the OP core structure oscillations, due to the discreteness of the underlying lattice, is shown. A connection between this coupling and our reduced model is made clear, through an analogy with a generalized Thiele equation. Received 6 June 2002 / Received in final form 4 November 2002 Published online 6 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: juan.zagorodny@uni-bayreuth.de     

含磁芯线圈动态电感计算

 从电感的基本定义出发,推导了一个新的递推公式,可准确地对含磁芯线圈动态电感进行数值计算,并在纯电感、含有5匝磁芯线圈和含有17块铁氧体大环磁芯的感应腔在双脉冲励磁情况下分别计算了动态电感量,验证了该方法的可行性。通过电感值可反推出磁芯在各种情况下磁导率的变化曲线,从而确定磁芯的磁特性及其适用范围。