Characterization of Nanostructured Magnetic Materials Using Neutron Scattering Techniques

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2020) | Viewed by 11488

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Guest Editor
1. Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz, Institute of Physics, 55128 Mainz, Germany
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ruhr-Universitat, 44780 Bochum, Germany

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Neutron scattering is the key experimental method for the exploration of structures, dynamics, and excitations in condensed matter. Particularly fruitful are neutron scattering studies of ferro-, ferri-, and antiferromagnetic materials as well as multiferroics. In recent years, scientific interest and technological applications have moved to the nanoscale, and therefore neutron scattering techniques have been adapted to meet this challenge. Indeed, neutron scattering work has contributed much to nanomagnetic topics such as interlayer exchange coupling, exchange bias effects, non-collinear spin structures, magnetization reversal processes, proximity effects, and others. For this Special Issue, original research articles, review articles, as well as short communications are invited, which reflect the progress that neutron scattering has achieved in the field of nanostructured magnetic materials. The contributions should also identify the challenges that lie ahead and potential solutions utilizing powerful neutron sources, including those that will become available in the near future.

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Zabel
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Artificial magnetic multilayers
  • Laterally patterned magnetic films
  • Magnetic nanoparticles
  • Proximity effects in ferromagnetic/superconducting heterostructures
  • Multiferroic heterostructures
  • Off-specular diffuse scattering
  • Polarized grazing-incidence small-angle scattering (P-GISANS)
  • Time-dependent studies
  • Spintronic heterostructures
  • Methods of thin magnetic film analysis via neutron reflectivity/scattering.

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2171 KiB  
Article
Artificial Magnetic Pattern Arrays Probed by Polarized Neutron Reflectivity
by Dmitry Gorkov, Boris P. Toperverg and Hartmut Zabel
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(5), 851; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10050851 - 28 Apr 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3116
Abstract
Traditionally, neutron scattering is an essential method for the analysis of spin structures and spin excitations in bulk materials. Over the last 30 years, polarized neutron scattering in terms of reflectometry has also contributed largely to the analysis of magnetic thin films and [...] Read more.
Traditionally, neutron scattering is an essential method for the analysis of spin structures and spin excitations in bulk materials. Over the last 30 years, polarized neutron scattering in terms of reflectometry has also contributed largely to the analysis of magnetic thin films and magnetic multilayers. More recently it has been shown that polarized neutron reflectivity is, in addition, a suitable tool for the study of thin films laterally patterned with magnetic stripes or islands. We provide a brief overview of the fundamental properties of polarized neutron reflectivity, considering different domain states, domain fluctuations, and different domain sizes with respect to the neutron coherence volume. The discussion is exemplified by a set of simulated reflectivities assuming either complete polarization and polarization analysis, or a reduced form of polarized neutron reflectivity without polarization analysis. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of the neutron coherence volume for the interpretation of specular and off-specular intensity maps, in particular when studying laterally non-homogeneous magnetic films. Finally, experimental results, fits, and simulations are shown for specular and off-specular scattering from a magnetic film that has been lithographically patterned into a periodic stripe array. These experiments demonstrate the different and mutually complementary information that can be gained when orienting the stripe array parallel or perpendicular to the scattering plane. Full article
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23 pages, 4166 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Structure of Ion-Beam Imprinted Stripe Domains Determined by Neutron Scattering
by Thomas Saerbeck, Henning Huckfeldt, Boris P. Toperverg and Arno Ehresmann
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 752; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10040752 - 15 Apr 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2897
Abstract
We present a detailed analysis of the in-plane magnetic vector configuration in head-to-head/tail-to-tail stripe domain patterns of nominal 5 μm width. The patterns have been created by He-ion bombardment induced magnetic patterning of a CoFe/IrMn3 exchange bias thin-film system. Quantitative information about [...] Read more.
We present a detailed analysis of the in-plane magnetic vector configuration in head-to-head/tail-to-tail stripe domain patterns of nominal 5 μm width. The patterns have been created by He-ion bombardment induced magnetic patterning of a CoFe/IrMn3 exchange bias thin-film system. Quantitative information about the chemical and magnetic structure is obtained from polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) and off-specular scattering (OSS). The technique provides information on the magnetic vector orientation and magnitude along the lateral coordinate of the sample, as well as the chemical and magnetic layer structure as a function of depth. Additional sensitivity to magnetic features is obtained through a neutron wave field resonance, which is fully accounted for in the presented analysis. The scattering reveals a domain width imbalance of 5.3 to 3.7 μm of virgin and bombarded stripes, respectively. Further, we report that the magnetization in the bombarded stripe significantly deviates from the head-to-head arrangement. A domain wall of 0.6 μm with homogeneous magnetization direction is found to separate the two neighboring domains. The results contain detailed information on length scales and magnetization vectors provided by PNR and OSS in absolute units. We illustrate the complementarity of the technique to microscopy techniques for obtaining a quantitative description of imprinted magnetic domain patterns and illustrate its applicability to different sample systems. Full article
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Review

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15 pages, 5949 KiB  
Review
Self-Assembly of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Ferrofluids on Different Templates Investigated by Neutron Reflectometry
by Katharina Theis-Bröhl, Apurve Saini, Max Wolff, Joseph A. Dura, Brian B. Maranville and Julie A. Borchers
Nanomaterials 2020, 10(6), 1231; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10061231 - 24 Jun 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4768
Abstract
In this article we review the process by which magnetite nanoparticles self-assemble onto solid surfaces. The focus is on neutron reflectometry studies providing information on the density and magnetization depth profiles of buried interfaces. Specific attention is given to the near-interface "wetting" layer [...] Read more.
In this article we review the process by which magnetite nanoparticles self-assemble onto solid surfaces. The focus is on neutron reflectometry studies providing information on the density and magnetization depth profiles of buried interfaces. Specific attention is given to the near-interface "wetting" layer and to examples of magnetite nanoparticles on a hydrophilic silicon crystal, one coated with (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, and finally, one with a magnetic film with out-of-plane magnetization. Full article
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