Researchers from NIST and international collaborators have used advanced microscopy techniques to study the magnetic properties of nickel-palladium (NiPd) nanostructures. These materials are important for studying how ferromagnets affect superconductors and for developing spintronic devices.
The researchers expected the magnetic orientation in patterned NiPd films to be simple, controlled by the film shape and applied magnetic field. However, their measurements revealed complex magnetization textures, including magnetization perpendicular to the expected direction. This complexity arises from stress-induced anisotropies caused by mismatches in lattice structures and thermal expansion coefficients between the NiPd films and substrates.
While the stress-induced magnetic structure may be problematic for some applications, the researchers believe it can be used to control magnetization orientation in nano-patterned electrodes. Their findings were published in Physical Review B in 2011.
Keywords: magnetization, nanostructures, spintronics, ferromagnets, magnetization textures
