Static and dynamic magnetic properties of densely packed magnetic nanowire arrays

Abstract

The static and dynamic magnetic properties of magnetic nanowire arrays with high packing density (>0.4) and wire diameter much greater than the exchange length have been studied by static and time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements and micromagnetic simulations. The nanowires were formed by electrodeposition within a nanoporous template such that their symmetry axes lay normal to the plane of the substrate. A quantitative and systematic investigation has been made of the static and dynamic properties of the array, which lie between the limiting cases of a single wire and a continuous ferromagnetic thin film. In particular, the competition between anisotropies associated with the shape of the individual nanowires and that of the array as a whole has been studied. Measured and simulated hysteresis loops are largely anhysteretic with zero remanence, and the micromagnetic configuration is such that the net magnetization vanishes in directions orthogonal to the applied field. Simulations of the remanent state reveal antiferromagnetic alignment of the magnetization in adjacent nanowires and the formation of vortex flux closure structures at the ends of each nanowire. The excitation spectra obtained from experiment and micromagnetic simulations are in qualitative agreement for magnetic fields applied both parallel and perpendicular to the axes of the nanowires. For the field parallel to the nanowire axes, there is also good quantitative agreement between experiment and simulation. The resonant frequencies are initially found to decrease as the applied field is increased from remanence. This is the result of a change of mode profile within the plane of the array from nonuniform to uniform as the ground state evolves with increasing applied field. Quantitative differences between experimental and simulated spectra are observed when the field is applied perpendicular to the nanowire axes. The dependence of the magnetic excitation spectra upon the array packing density is explored, and dispersion curves for spin waves propagating within the array parallel to the nanowire axis are presented. Finally, a tunneling of end modes through the middle region of the nanowires was observed. The tunneling is more efficient for wires forming densely packed arrays, as a result of the extended penetration of the dynamic demagnetizing fields into the middle of the wires and due to the lowering of the tunneling barrier by the static demagnetizing field of the array.