Highly filled composites with thermoplastic elastomers matrix

The mechanical and Theological properties of blends based on commercial types of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) Finaprene with polystyrene and ethylene-vinylacetate copolymer, used as suitable materials to produce highly filled composites with magnetically hard fillers, have been investigated. The influence of a 90% to 93% filler content and the morphology of the fillers on mechanical, Theological, and magnetic properties of composites is discussed. The influence of changes of other technological parameters, such as type of treatment of the fillers and type of mixer, on properties of composites has been studied.     

Structural phase transitions in isotropic magnetic elastomers

Magnetic elastomers represent a new type of materials that are “soft” matrices with “hard” magnetic granules embedded in them. The elastic forces of the matrix and the magnetic forces acting between granules are comparable in magnitude even under small deformations. As a result, these materials acquire a number of new properties; in particular, their mechanical and/or magnetic characteristics can depend strongly on the polymer matrix filling with magnetic particles and can change under the action of an external magnetic field, pressure, and temperature. To describe the properties of elastomers, we use a model in which the interaction of magnetic granules randomly arranged in space with one another is described in the dipole approximation by the distribution function of dipole fields, while their interaction with the matrix is described phenomenologically. A multitude of deformation, magnetic-field, and temperature effects that are described in this paper and are quite accessible to experimental observation arise within this model.     

Effect of Exchange Interaction Constants on the Magnetization Reversal in a Hard/Soft Magnetic Bilayer Model

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics - A model is developed to study a hard/soft magnetic bilayer in an external magnetic field by the Monte Carlo method. The influence of the constants...     

Tunnel magnetoresistance of magnetic junctions with cubic symmetry of the layers

A tunnel magnetic junction is considered with magnetic hard and magnetic soft layers of cubic symmetry. The magnetic switching of the layers is analyzed for a magnetic field perpendicular to the initial magnetizations. In such a situation, an additional peak in the tunnel magnetoresistance ratio appears at the magnetic field value that is substantially lower than the anisotropy field of the soft layer.     

Magnetic properties of ferrocholesterics with soft particle anchoring

The influence of the external magnetic field on the orientational structure and magnetic properties of the ferrocholesteric is analyzed. A soft homeotropic coupling between the magnetic particles and the cholesteric molecules is assumed. The diamagnetic anisotropy of the matrix is chosen to be positive. In this case, the dipolar and quadrupolar mechanisms of orientational interaction with the external field compete with each other. The field being applied normal to the helix. Using the continuum theory, the occurrence of magnetic-field-induced ferrocholesteric–ferronematic transition is studied. The transition field as a function of the material parameters of a ferrocholesteric is found. It is shown that rising the field strength in the ferronematic phase leads to a change in the coupling between the particles and the director from homeotropic to planar one. A study on the structure of the domain walls in ferronematic phase is undertaken.     

Monte Carlo study of magnetization reversal in the model of a hard/soft magnetic bilayer

Magnetization reversal in the model of a hard/soft magnetic bilayer under the action of an external magnetic field has been investigated by the Monte Carlo method. Calculations have been performed for three systems: (i) the model without a soft-magnetic layer (hard-magnetic layer), (ii) the model with a soft-magnetic layer of thickness 25 atomic layers (predominantly exchange-coupled system), and (iii) with 50 (weak exchange coupling) atomic layers. The effect of a soft-magnetic phase on the magnetization reversal of the magnetic bilayer and on the formation of a 1D spin spring in the magnetic bilayer has been demonstrated. An inf lection that has been detected on the arch of the hysteresis loop only for the system with weak exchange coupling is completely determined by the behavior of the soft layer in the external magnetic field. The critical fields of magnetization reversal decrease with increasing thickness of the soft phase.     

Magnetization reversal in CoPt-based hard–soft homocomposites

CoPt-based hard–soft sputtered bilayers with (1 1 1) texture have been produced by appropriate heat treatment of the bottom layer. Two samples with different degrees of chemical ordering of the hard layer are compared. The anisotropy of the hard layer determines its robustness against destabilization from the soft one. Detailed measurements of the soft layer minor hysteresis loop features as a function of the magnetic state of the hard layer are proposed as a means to study the nature of interfacial exchange interactions and the mechanism of magnetization reversal. When hard layer anisotropy is not robust enough, the reversed soft layer can induce irreversible changes to the magnetic structure at the interface leading to a decoupling of exchange field from the magnetic state of the hard layer.     

Damping of Magnetorheological Elastomers

利用改装后的力磁耦合动态测试系统实验研究了磁流变弹性体在磁场下的阻尼性能. 实验得出了外加磁场的磁感应强度、基体的本征阻尼、铁粉含量、动态应变以及激励频率对磁流变弹性体阻尼的影响规律. 发现了磁流变弹性体的阻尼在很大程度上是由基体和颗粒之间的界面滑移所决定的. 而且该界面滑移不同于一般复合材料,它会受到外加磁场的影响..     

Ultrawide frequency linewidth of the permeability spectra of FeCoN thin film sputtered on the flexible substrate

Analysis shows that it is possible to make use of dispersed magnetic ripple fields to obtain a wide frequency linewidth of permeability spectra of soft magnetic thin films. As-sputtered FeCoN thin film sputtered on flexible Kapton substrate is studied as an example. It has ultrawide frequency linewidths of its resonance peaks in the permeability spectra, compared to its counterpart deposited on Si substrate. The frequency linewidth of FeCoN on Kapton substrate decreases with external magnetic field, showing a different field dependence from that of FeCoN on Si substrate. The ultrawide frequency linewidth and its decrease with external magnetic field are ascribed to the dispersed magnetic ripple fields caused by the flexible substrate. This work shows that the flexible substrate is effective in obtaining a wide frequency linewidth of the permeability spectra of soft magnetic thin films.     

M(H) shape reconstruction using magnetic spectroscopy

Knowledge about the magnetization behavior M(H) is crucial for the use of magnetic materials in engineering applications. To date many systems exist that are able to measure the magnetization behavior, e.g. VSM, VCM, MOKE. In addition to their huge costs, complex and space-consuming measurement setup, large amount of preparatory work and restricted surface measurements are handicaps which restrict their field of application. Furthermore, the influence of additional physical quantities such as temperature, strain or pressure can only be investigated with great efforts. These influences are, however, of major importance in the development of magnetic sensor systems that are based on the change in magnetic properties.In this paper, a new measurement principle based on a frequency mixing technique is introduced for investigation of the shape of the magnetization curve of soft non-hysteretic magnetic materials. Based on the Taylor expansion of the magnetization curve and the spectral investigation of the inductively detected signal, a mathematical model for the reconstruction of M(H) is proposed. The model is both numerically and experimentally verified. It is shown that the magnetization curve of a nanocrystalline soft magnetic material used in this study can be reconstructed very accurately and the influence of an additional parameter, i.e. strain, can be investigated in detail as well.     

A Gaussian distribution model of anisotropic magnetorheological elastomers

A Gaussian distribution model was developed to examine the field-induced performance of anisotropic magnetorheological elastomers. The developed model was based on the assumption that the iron particles in magnetorheological elastomers aggregate into a large number of parallel body-centered tetragonal structure columns whose length obeys the Gaussian distribution. By using multi-pole approximation with local field effect and taking into account the nonlinearity and saturation of particle magnetization, the field-induced shear modulus was calculated as a function of distribution and dimension of the particle structures, the external magnetic field and the dynamic shear strain. Compared with other modes as well as the published experimental results, this model shows a remarkable improvement in accurately predicting the behavior of the magnetorheological elastomers.     

Magnetization reversal process at atomic scale in systems with itinerant electrons

The magnetic response of itinerant electrons systems to an external magnetic field is investigated on the basis of a microscopic Hamiltonian from which the spin-polarized electronic structure is determined. The magnetic moment and grand thermodynamic potential of the d-electronic subsystem on a particular atomic site in the presence of the external field are calculated as a function of the moment's orientation for fixed electron configuration of its local environment. Self-consistent magnetic solutions strongly depend on the d-electron number, determined by the position of the d level relative to the Fermi energy. For parameters corresponding to α-Fe, two branches of self-consistent solutions with high and low magnetic moments are found. For parameters corresponding to bulk Cr, a Fe impurity in the Cr matrix and a Cr impurity in the Fe matrix, there are only low-spin solutions. The theory is also applied for describing magnetization reversal processes in exchange spring magnets. A slab of Fe was considered as a soft magnetic layer. The influence of the hard magnet is modeled by the inclusion of an external magnetic field applied to the interface Fe layers. The dependence of the hysteresis loop on the thickness of the Fe slab and on the value of the interface field is investigated.     

Influence of composition of carbonyl iron particles on dynamic mechanical properties of magnetorheological elastomers

Magnetorheological elastomers (MRE) are known as smart materials. However, the magnetorheological (MR) effect of MRE is not high enough at present, which limits its engineering applications. Prior studies have shown that magneto-induced shear storage modulus and MR effect were mainly determined by the performance of the ferromagnetic particles. In this paper, MRE samples were prepared by carbonyl iron particles (CIP) of different compositions based on silicon rubber under external magnetic field. Their microstructures were observed using an optical digital microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The dynamic mechanical properties of MRE samples were measured using a modified dynamic mechanical analyzer under varying magnetic field strength and frequency. The results show that the carbon content of CIP have a greater impact on the dynamic mechanical properties of MRE. The magneto-induced shear storage modulus and MR effect can be increased by selecting CIP of low carbon content. In addition, the damping property is also significantly influenced by the carbon content of the CIP. This study is expected to provide guidance for fabrication of high performance MRE.     

Nonlinear dynamic structure rearrangement of vortexlike domain walls in magnetic films with in-plane anisotropy

The nonlinear dynamic behavior of vortexlike domain walls in magnetic uniaxial films having an in-plane anisotropy was investigated within a rigorous micromagnetic approach in the framework of a two-dimensional magnetization distribution by numerically solving the Landau–Lifshitz equations (with the Gilbert damping parameter) with allowance for all the main interactions, including the dipole–dipole one. The studies were carried out on magnetic soft films with an anisotropy axis lying in their plane in a dc magnetic field parallel to an easy axis and a pulsed magnetic field normal to it. New possibilities for controlling the nonlinear dynamic rearrangement of the internal structure of domain walls and their velocities in fields both above and below the critical field are established. The wall motion in the field above the critical one is nonstationary.     

Response of Mn overlayers on Fe to external magnetic fields: Electronic structure calculations

The behavior of Mn overlayers on Fe(0 0 1) under the influence of external magnetic fields is investigated. The electronic charge distribution, local magnetic moments as well as their couplings are determined as a function of the external field by solving self-consistently a tight binding Hamiltonian, parameterized to ab initio TBLMTO calculations. Our method allows to trace back the field-dependent average magnetization of the system to its electronic structure and magnetic configuration. We show how in the non-collinear framework the response of the system is markedly different to what is found in the collinear framework. If metastable magnetic configurations exist, the external field can be used for tuning the system between some of them because the system stays in some of those metastable states even after switching off the external field.     

Phase diagram of dipolar hard and soft spheres: manipulation of colloidal crystal structures by an external field

Phase diagrams of hard and soft spheres with a fixed dipole moment are determined by calculating the Helmholtz free energy using simulations. The pair potential is given by a dipole-dipole interaction plus a hard-core and a repulsive Yukawa potential for soft spheres. Our system models colloids in an external electric or magnetic field, with hard spheres corresponding to uncharged and soft spheres to charged colloids. The phase diagram of dipolar hard spheres shows fluid, face-centered-cubic (fcc), hexagonal-close-packed (hcp), and body-centered-tetragonal (bct) phases. The phase diagram of dipolar soft spheres exhibits, in addition to the above mentioned phases, a body-centered-orthorhombic (bco) phase, and it agrees well with the experimental phase diagram [Nature (London) 421, 513 (2003)]. Our results show that bulk hcp, bct, and bco crystals can be realized experimentally by applying an external field.     

A simple approach to the First Order Reversal Curves (FORC) of two-phase magnetic systems

The features that commonly appear in the First Order Reversal Curves (FORC) of magnetic composites, consisting of a hard and a soft phase, are reproduced by a simple mean-field approach in the limit of weak coupling. In this case the features corresponding to each phase are distinct and the effect of the interactions appears as biasing field on the soft phase and a coercivity reduction of the hard one. Interactions produce additional twin (positive/negative) interference features in the region of the (H, H_R) FORC diagram where there is a strong dependence on H through the soft phase and on H_R through the hard phase. The slope and the intensity of these twin features depend on interaction strength.     

Hard magnetic CoCr layer in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions

In magnetic tunnel junctions a highly spin-polarizing layer is usually exchange biased by an antiferromagnetic layer, an artificial antiferromagnetic layer system or a combination of both, while the magnetically soft layer is free to rotate. The use of a single layer of a hard magnetic material is rarely investigated up to now. In this paper, we present the electric and magnetic properties of tunnel junctions with a hard magnetic Co₈₃Cr₁₇ layer. The soft magnetic electrode consists of either a single Co layer or a Co/Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ bilayer. The magnetic anisotropy and coercive field H_C of the CoCr layer depend on its thickness and the kind of the bottom layer (Cu or Ta) and can vary from H_C=50–700 Oe. It is found that a thin Co cap layer also influences the hysteretic behavior. Furthermore, only small changes after annealing up to 450°C promise a high thermal stability for the application in magnetic tunnel junctions. Measurements of the tunnel magnetoresistance on large area junctions, however, show a strong magnetic coupling of the hard and soft electrodes.     

(Stress at Break)/(Shore A) Balance in Propylene/Ethylene Elastomers

Propylene/ethylene elastomers with ethylene content in the range 10–20 wt % are known to exhibit elastomeric properties when ethylene is randomly distributed along the polypropylene chains: this condition favors the formation of small crystallites during solidification from the melt and mechanical straining. These small crystals act as physical crosslinks for the rest of the amorphous chains and promote elastomeric behavior. Based upon these concepts a mathematical relationship between stress-at-break and Shore A hardness, was developed in the form of an S-shaped curve and validated with a series of polymers containing different amounts of ethylene. These polymers were produced with both Ziegler-Natta (at 100°C) and metallocene catalysis. It was seen that the catalysis type has a marginal influence on elastomer performances. There is a slightly better balance between Shore A and stress-at-break at low ethylene contents for the metallocene elastomers whereas the Ziegler-Natta catalysis results in elastomers with better thermal properties. Addition of PP homopolymer worsens the balance between Shore A and stress-at-break; the same happens following the addition of inorganic filler. In contrast, the addition of a low-molecular-weight paraffinic hydrocarbon promotes softer elastomers with the same stress-at-break/Shore A balances of the parent elastomers.