Dynamics of the magnetization of single domain particles having triaxial anisotropy subjected to a uniform dc magnetic field

Abstract

Thermally induced relaxation of the magnetization of single domain ferromagnetic particles with triaxial (orthorhombic) anisotropy in the presence of a uniform external magnetic field H0 is considered in the context of Brown’s continuous diffusion model. Simple analytic equations, which allow one to describe qualitatively the field effects in the relaxation behavior of the system for wide ranges of the field strength and damping parameters are derived. It is shown that these formulas are in complete agreement with the exact matrix continued fraction solution of the infinite hierarchy of linear differential-recurrence equations for the statistical moments, which governs the magnetization dynamics of an individual particle (this hierarchy is derived by averaging the underlying stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation over its realizations). It is also demonstrated that in strong fields the longitudinal relaxation of the magnetization is essentially modified by the contribution of the high-frequency “intrawell” modes to the relaxation process. This effect discovered for uniaxial particles by Coffey et al. [Phys. Rev. B 51, 15947 (1995)] is the natural consequence of the depletion of population of the shallow potential well. However, in contrast to uniaxial anisotropy, for orthorhombic crystals there is an inherent geometric dependence of the complex magnetic susceptibility and the relaxation time on the damping parameter α arising from the coupling of longitudinal and transverse relaxation modes.