Lecture

Nanomagnetism: Magnetic Structures and Interactions

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Description

This lecture on nanomagnetism covers the fundamental concepts of magnetism, including magnetic sources, magnetic fields, magnetic domains, and energy contributions. It delves into the types of magnetism such as paramagnetism, ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, and ferrimagnetism, explaining their characteristics and behaviors. The lecture also explores techniques to investigate magnetic structures at the nanoscale, such as magneto-optical Kerr effect, Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, and spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy. Additionally, it discusses the influence of tip magnetization on the magnetic signal in magnetic force microscopy and the calibration of MFM tips for quantitative measurements of magnetic structures like skyrmions.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Condensed matter physics: Phase transitions

Related concepts (32)

Magnetic domain

A magnetic domain is a region within a magnetic material in which the magnetization is in a uniform direction. This means that the individual magnetic moments of the atoms are aligned with one another and they point in the same direction. When cooled below a temperature called the Curie temperature, the magnetization of a piece of ferromagnetic material spontaneously divides into many small regions called magnetic domains. The magnetization within each domain points in a uniform direction, but the magnetization of different domains may point in different directions.

Ferromagnetism

Ferromagnetism is a property of certain materials (such as iron) that results in a significant, observable magnetic permeability, and in many cases, a significant magnetic coercivity, allowing the material to form a permanent magnet. Ferromagnetic materials are familiar metals that are noticeably attracted to a magnet, a consequence of their substantial magnetic permeability. Magnetic permeability describes the induced magnetization of a material due to the presence of an external magnetic field.

Single domain (magnetic)

In magnetism, single domain refers to the state of a ferromagnet (in the broader meaning of the term that includes ferrimagnetism) in which the magnetization does not vary across the magnet. A magnetic particle that stays in a single domain state for all magnetic fields is called a single domain particle (but other definitions are possible; see below). Such particles are very small (generally below a micrometre in diameter). They are also very important in a lot of applications because they have a high coercivity.

Saturation (magnetic)

Seen in some magnetic materials, saturation is the state reached when an increase in applied external magnetic field H cannot increase the magnetization of the material further, so the total magnetic flux density B more or less levels off. (Though, magnetization continues to increase very slowly with the field due to paramagnetism.) Saturation is a characteristic of ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials, such as iron, nickel, cobalt and their alloys. Different ferromagnetic materials have different saturation levels.

Antiferromagnetism

In materials that exhibit antiferromagnetism, the magnetic moments of atoms or molecules, usually related to the spins of electrons, align in a regular pattern with neighboring spins (on different sublattices) pointing in opposite directions. This is, like ferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism, a manifestation of ordered magnetism. The phenomenon of antiferromagnetism was first introduced by Lev Landau in 1933.

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