Stability of magnetic nano-structures against erroneous shape modifications

Abstract

Magnetic nano-structures can be used in various applications. Due to their possible utilization in data storage media, examinations of nano-structured systems often aim at decreasing the pattern size, in order to enhance the possible information density in a given area. Since this scaling process is limited by the resolution of the lithography process which is used to produce the nano-particles, it is important to determine the influence of erroneous shape modifications on the magnetic properties, such as magnetization reversal processes and coercive fields. For this, a square nano-wire system from permalloy has been simulated using Magpar. In a former work, changes of the wire diameter have been shown to result in different magnetization reversal mechanisms and significantly altered coercive fields. In a new project, the intersections of the wires – which are most susceptible to undesired shape modifications – have been changed by adding or subtracting parts. Additionally, the wire intersections have been separated step by step, resulting in a qualitatively changed angular dependence of the coercive fields. Similar experiments have been performed for nano-squares with walls of rectangular cross-section. This study allows for estimation of the reliability of magnetic properties of nano-structures with respect to undesired shape modifications in the lithography process.