Magnetic moment distributions in α- Fe nanowire array

Abstract

α-Fe nanowire array has been electrodeposited into anodic aluminum oxide template. The magnetic moment distributions, in the interior and near the extremities of α-Fe nanowire with 60 nm in diameter, have been studied by means of transmission Mossbauer spectroscopy (MS), conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and micromagnetic simulation. Transmission Mossbauer spectrum (MS) shows that the magnetic moments, inside the α-Fe nanowire array, are well parallel to nanowire, while conversion electron Mossbauer spectrum (CEMS) reveals that the magnetic moments, near the extremities of nanowire, diverge from the long axis of wire, and the average diverging angle calculated by the intensity ratio of the 2,5 peaks is about 24.0°. Moreover, the magnetic moment distributions of different depths to the top of wire are counted using micromagnetic simulation, which indicates that, the interior magnetic moments are strictly parallel to nanowire, and the closer the magnetic moment to the top of wire, the larger the diverging angle. Magnetic measurement shows that this α-Fe nanowire array represents a strong magnetic anisotropy.