Spatial magnetic imaging of non-axially symmetric vortex domains in cylindrical nanowire by transmission X-ray microscopy.

The spatial magnetization texture of a cylindrical nanowire has been determined by Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). For this purpose, nanowires with designed geometry, consisting of CoNi/Ni periodic segments, have been grown by designed electrodeposition into alumina templates. Experimental data allow one to conclude the presence of mono- and trivortex magnetic domains in CoNi segments but, unusually, these states are characterized by an asymmetric XMCD contrast across the nanowire's section. Micromagnetic modelling shows non-trivial three-dimensional structures with ellipsoidal vortex cores and non-axially symmetric magnetization along the nanowire direction. The modelled TXM contrast of micromagnetic structures allows to correlate the experimental asymmetric XMCD contrast to the easy axis direction of the uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy.

Multiferroic Aurivillius Bi4Ti2-xMnxFe0.5Nb0.5O12 (n = 3) compounds with tailored magnetic interactions.

Aurivillius compounds with the general formula (Bi2O2)(An-1BnO3n+1) are a highly topical family of functional layered oxides currently under investigation for room-temperature multiferroism. A chemical design strategy is the incorporation of magnetically active BiMO3 units (M: Fe3+, Mn3+, Co3+ …) into the pseudo-perovskite layer of known ferroelectrics like Bi4Ti3O12, introducing additional oxygen octahedra. Alternatively, one can try to directly substitute magnetic species for Ti4+ in the perovskite slab. Previous reports explored the introduction of the M3+ species, which required the simultaneous incorporation of a 5+ cation, as for the Bi4Ti3-2xNbxFexO12 system. A larger magnetic fraction might be attained if Ti4+ is substituted with Mn4+, though it has been argued that the small ionic radius prevents its incorporation into the pseudo-perovskite layer. We report here the mechanosynthesis of Aurivillius Bi4Ti2-xMnxNb0.5Fe0.5O12 (n = 3) compounds with increasing Mn4+ content up to x = 0.5, which corresponds to a magnetic fraction of 1/3 at the B-site surpassing the threshold for percolation, and equal amounts of Mn4+ and Fe3+. The appearance of ferromagnetic superexchange interactions and magnetic ordering was anticipated and is shown for phases with x ≥ 0.3. Ceramic processing was accomplished by spark plasma sintering, which enabled electrical measurements that demonstrated ferroelectricity for all Mn4+-containing Aurivillius compounds. This is a new family of layered oxides and a promising alternative single-phase approach for multiferroism.

Integrating magnetic capabilities to intracellular chips for cell trapping.

Current microtechnologies have shown plenty of room inside a living cell for silicon chips. Microchips as barcodes, biochemical sensors, mechanical sensors and even electrical devices have been internalized into living cells without interfering their cell viability. However, these technologies lack from the ability to trap and preconcentrate cells in a specific region, which are prerequisites for cell separation, purification and posterior studies with enhanced sensitivity. Magnetic manipulation of microobjects, which allows a non-contacting method, has become an attractive and promising technique at small scales. Here, we show intracellular Ni-based chips with magnetic capabilities to allow cell enrichment. As a proof of concept of the potential to integrate multiple functionalities on a single device of this technique, we combine coding and magnetic manipulation capabilities in a single device. Devices were found to be internalized by HeLa cells without interfering in their viability. We demonstrated the tagging of a subpopulation of cells and their subsequent magnetic trapping with internalized barcodes subjected to a force up to 2.57 pN (for magnet-cells distance of 4.9 mm). The work opens the venue for future intracellular chips that integrate multiple functionalities with the magnetic manipulation of cells.

Stochastic vs. deterministic magnetic coding in designed cylindrical nanowires for 3D magnetic networks.

Advances in cylindrical nanowires for 3D information technologies profit from intrinsic curvature that introduces significant differences with regards to planar systems. A model is proposed to control the stochastic and deterministic coding of remanent 3D complex vortex configurations in designed multilayered (magnetic/non-magnetic) cylindrical nanowires. This concept, introduced by micromagnetic simulations, is experimentally confirmed by magnetic imaging in FeCo/Cu multilayered nanowires. The control over the random/deterministic vortex states configurations is achieved by a suitable geometrical interface tilting of almost non-interacting FeCo segments with respect to the nanowire axis, together with the relative orientation of the perpendicular magnetic field. The proper design of the segments' geometry (e.g. tilting) in cylindrical nanowires opens multiple opportunities for advanced nanotechnologies in 3D magnetic networks.

Magnetic Configurations in Modulated Cylindrical Nanowires.

Cylindrical magnetic nanowires show great potential for 3D applications such as magnetic recording, shift registers, and logic gates, as well as in sensing architectures or biomedicine. Their cylindrical geometry leads to interesting properties of the local domain structure, leading to multifunctional responses to magnetic fields and electric currents, mechanical stresses, or thermal gradients. This review article is summarizing the work carried out in our group on the fabrication and magnetic characterization of cylindrical magnetic nanowires with modulated geometry and anisotropy. The nanowires are prepared by electrochemical methods allowing the fabrication of magnetic nanowires with precise control over geometry, morphology, and composition. Different routes to control the magnetization configuration and its dynamics through the geometry and magnetocrystalline anisotropy are presented. The diameter modulations change the typical single domain state present in cubic nanowires, providing the possibility to confine or pin circular domains or domain walls in each segment. The control and stabilization of domains and domain walls in cylindrical wires have been achieved in multisegmented structures by alternating magnetic segments of different magnetic properties (producing alternative anisotropy) or with non-magnetic layers. The results point out the relevance of the geometry and magnetocrystalline anisotropy to promote the occurrence of stable magnetochiral structures and provide further information for the design of cylindrical nanowires for multiple applications.

An extraordinary chiral exchange-bias phenomenon: engineering the sign of the bias field in orthogonal bilayers by a magnetically switchable response mechanism.

Isothermal tuning of both the magnitude and the sign of the bias field has been achieved by exploiting a new phenomenon in a system consisting of two orthogonally coupled films: SmCo5 (out-of-plane anisotropy)-CoFeB (in-plane anisotropy). This has been achieved by using the large dipolar magnetic field of the SmCo5 layer resulting in the pinning of one of the branches of the hysteresis loop (either the ascending or the descending branch) at a fixed field value while the second one is modulated along the field axis by varying the orientation of an externally applied magnetic field. This means the possibility of controlling the sign of the bias field in a manner not reported to date. Moreover, modulation of the bias field strength is possible by varying the thickness of a spacer between the SmCo5 and CoFeB layers. This study shows that the observed phenomena find their origin in the competition between the artificially induced anisotropies in both layers, resulting in a reversible chiral bias effect that allows the selection of the initial sign of the bias field by switching (upwards/downwards) the magnetization in the SmCo5 film.

Magnetic interactions in compositionally modulated nanowire arrays.

Series of high hexagonally ordered compositionally modulated nanowire arrays, with different Cu layer and FeCoCu segment thicknesses and a constant diameter of 35 nm, were fabricated by electroplating from a single electrolytic bath into anodic aluminum oxide membranes. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of ferromagnetic (FM) segment and non-ferromagnetic (NFM) layer thickness on the magnetic properties, particularly coercivity and magnetic interactions. First-order reversal curve (FORC) measurements and simulations were performed to quantify the effect of the inter-/intra-nanowire magnetostatic interactions on the coercivity and interaction field distributions. The FORC coercivity increases for a thick NFM layer and long FM segments due to decoupling of the the FM segments and the increased shape anisotropy, respectively. On the other hand, the interaction field presents a parallel strong reduction for a thick NFM layer and thin FM segments, which is ascribed to a similar NFM/FM thickness ratio and degree of FM segment decoupling along the nanowire.

Nanometer Scale Hard/Soft Bilayer Magnetic Antidots.

The effect of arrays of nanometer scale pores on the magnetic properties of thin films has been analyzed. Particularly, we investigated the influence of the out-of-plane magnetization component created by the nanopores on the in-plane magnetic behavior of patterned hard/soft magnetic thin films in antidot morphology. Its influence on the coupling in Co/Py bilayers of few tens of nanometer thick is compared for disordered and ordered antidots of 35-nm diameter. The combination of magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and first-order reversal curve (FORC) technique allows probing the effects of the induced perpendicular magnetization component on the bilayer magnetic behavior, while magnetic force microscopy (MFM) is used to image it. We found that ordered antidots yield a stronger out-of-plane component than disordered ones, influencing in a similar manner the hard layer global in-plane magnetic behavior if with a thin or without soft layer. However, its influence changes with a thicker soft layer, which may be an indication of a weaker coupling.

Vortex domain wall propagation in periodically modulated diameter FeCoCu nanowire as determined by the magneto-optical Kerr effect.

Control over the magnetization reversal process of nanowires is essential to current advances in modern spintronic media and magnetic data storage. Much effort has been devoted to permalloy nanostrips with rectangular cross section and vanishing crystalline anisotropy. Our aim was to unveil and control the reversal process in FeCoCu nanowires with significant anisotropy and circular cross section with tailored periodical modulations in diameter. Magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements and their angular dependence performed on individual nanowires together with their analysis allow us to conclude that the demagnetization process takes place due to the propagation of a single vortex domain wall which is eventually pinned at given modulations with slightly higher energy barrier. In addition these results create new expectations for further controlling of the propagation of single and multiple domain walls.

Trapping and injecting single domain walls in magnetic wire by local fields.

A single domain wall (DW) moves at linearly increasing velocity under an increasing homogeneous drive magnetic field. Present experiments show that the DW is braked and finally trapped at a given position when an additional antiparallel local magnetic field is applied. That position and its velocity are further controlled by suitable tuning of the local field. In turn, the parallel local field of small amplitude does not significantly affect the effective wall speed at long distance, although it generates tail-to-tail and head-to-head pairs of walls moving along opposite directions when that field is strong enough.