Abstract
Interference of waves is important and used in many areas of science and technology but does not extend to static magnetic fields which lack the wave structure. On the other hand, magnetic fields can be spatially modulated using microstructured materials comprising magnetic and non-magnetic domains. Here, we show that when such spatial modulation is coupled to the dynamics of magnetic particles, it can give rise to interference-like patterns. These patterns are imprinted into thin polymer films by overlaying “stamps” presenting periodic arrays of magnetic and nonmagnetic regions. The structures that emerge from such a superposition are sensitive to any motions of the stamps, can depend on the history of these motions, can produce features significantly smaller than those in the stamps, and can be either planar or three-dimensional.
Highlights
Interference of waves is important and used in many areas of science and technology but does not extend to static magnetic fields which lack the wave structure
We demonstrate that when spatial modulation of static magnetic fields is coupled to the dynamics of magnetic particles, it can give rise to interference-like patterns
In addition to static structures observed for a given arrangement of grids, this system exhibits unique dynamic properties whereby, upon grid motion, the particles can be spatially focused to various locations
Summary
Interference of waves is important and used in many areas of science and technology but does not extend to static magnetic fields which lack the wave structure. We demonstrate that when spatial modulation of static magnetic fields is coupled to the dynamics of magnetic particles, it can give rise to interference-like patterns.
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