Effect of annealing on the magnetic microstructure of high-pressure torsion iron: the relevance of higher-order contributions to the magnetic small-angle neutron scattering cross section.

The development of higher-order micromagnetic small-angle neutron scattering theory in nanocrystalline materials is still in its infancy. One key challenge remaining in this field is understanding the role played by the microstructure on the magnitude and sign of the higher-order scattering contribution recently observed in nanocrystalline materials prepared by high-pressure torsion. By combining structural and magnetic characterization techniques, namely X-ray diffraction, electron backscattered diffraction and magnetometry with magnetic small-angle neutron scattering, this work discusses the relevance of higher-order terms in the magnetic small-angle neutron scattering cross section of pure iron prepared by high-pressure torsion associated with a post-annealing process. The structural analysis confirms: (i) the preparation of ultra-fine-grained pure iron with a crystallite size below 100 nm and (ii) rapid grain growth with increasing annealing temperature. The analysis of neutron data based on the micromagnetic small-angle neutron scattering theory extended to textured ferromagnets yields uniaxial magnetic anisotropy values that are larger than the magnetocrystalline value reported for bulk iron, supporting the existence of induced magnetoelastic anisotropy in the mechanically deformed samples. Furthermore, the neutron data analysis revealed unambiguously the presence of non-negligible higher-order scattering contributions in high-pressure torsion iron. Though the sign of the higher-order contribution might be related to the amplitude of the anisotropy inhomogeneities, its magnitude appears to be clearly correlated to the changes in the microstructure (density and/or shape of the defects) induced by combining high-pressure torsion and a post-annealing treatment.

Magnetic neutron scattering by magnetic vortices in thin submicron-sized soft ferromagnetic cylinders.

Using analytical expressions for the magnetization textures of thin submicron-sized magnetic cylinders in vortex state, we derive closed-form algebraic expressions for the ensuing small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) cross sections. Specifically, for the perpendicular and parallel scattering geometries, we have computed the cross sections for the case of small vortex-center displacements without formation of magnetic charges on the side faces of the cylinder. The results represent a significant qualitative and quantitative step forward in SANS-data analysis on isolated magnetic nanoparticle systems, which are commonly assumed to be homogeneously or stepwise-homogeneously magnetized. We suggest a way to extract the fine details of the magnetic vortex structure during the magnetization process from the SANS measurements in order to help resolving the long-standing question of the magnetic vortex displacement mode.

Magnetization patterns in ferromagnetic nanoelements as functions of complex variable.

The assumption of a certain hierarchy of soft ferromagnet energy terms, realized in small enough flat nanoelements, allows us to obtain explicit expressions for their magnetization distributions. By minimizing the energy terms sequentially, from the most to the least important, magnetization distributions are expressed as solutions of the Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problem for a function of complex variable. A number of free parameters, corresponding to positions of vortices and antivortices, still remain in the expression. Thus, the presented approach is a factory of realistic Ritz functions for analytical (or numerical) micromagnetic calculations. Examples are given for multivortex magnetization distributions in a circular cylinder, and for two-dimensional domain walls in thin magnetic strips.

Quasiuniform in-plane magnetization state of thin cylindrical dots in a square array and related anisotropy.

The energy (magnetostatic, exchange, and Zeeman terms) of a square array of cylindrical submicron dots made of soft ferromagnetic material is calculated analytically and minimized, taking into account the quasiuniformity of dot magnetization. The dependence of the equilibrium energy of the array on the direction of the externally applied magnetic field in the array plane is recovered, exhibiting the fourfold anisotropy. The anisotropy constant is calculated. Its values for different array geometries are in excellent agreement with the recent independent experiments. A new eightfold anisotropy effect is predicted. The theory involves no adjustable parameters.