[en] A micromagnetic model has been developed for investigating the effect of stress on the magnetic properties of thin films. This effect has been implemented by including the magnetoelastic energy term into the Landau - Lifshitz - Gilbert equation. Magnetization curves of a nickel film were calculated under both tensile and compressive stresses of various magnitudes applied along the field direction. The modeling results show that coercivity increased with increasing compressive stress while remanence decreased with increasing tensile stress. The results are in agreement with the experimental data in the literature and can be interpreted in terms of the effects of the applied stress on the irreversible rotation of magnetic moments during magnetization reversal under an applied field. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

[en] The results of a study on the suitability of materials derived from cobalt ferrite for sensor and actuator applications are presented. The mechanism responsible for the superior sensor properties of Ge-substituted cobalt ferrite compared with Ti and other cation substituted cobalt ferrite materials is believed to be due to the tetrahedral site preference of Ge"4"+ and its co-substitution with Co"2"+. Results also showed that the higher strain derivative of Ge-substituted cobalt ferrite compared with Ti-substitution is due to a higher magnetostrictive coupling in response to applied field in the material. (paper)

[en] The magnetic hysteresis properties and Barkhausen effect signals in a series of induction hardened steel rods were studied through measurements and model simulations, with the objective of developing the measurement techniques for nondestructive evaluation of case depth. It was inferred from the measured hysteresis loop that magnetization reversal proceeded in two stages which took place in the core and the case of the hardened rods. The case depths of the samples were estimated by considering the hysteresis loops as a weighed sum of signals from the case and the core. The results were in good agreement with the nominal case depths determined from the hardness depth profiles

[en] The magnetization reversal in a series of rf-sputtered FeSiAl(N) films has been studied using magnetic force microscopy. A system has been developed which has the capability to image domain structure while an in-plane magnetic field is applied in situ. All films exhibited a stripe domain structure in zero applied field which was indicative of a perpendicular component of domain magnetization which alternates in sign. All films showed a similar sequence of magnetization processes: on reducing the applied field from saturation a fine stripe domain structure nucleated and then coarsened as the field was decreased to zero. Local switching of domain contrast was observed along the steepest part of the hysteresis loop as the perpendicular component reversed. As the reverse field was increased toward saturation, the stripe domains disintegrated into smaller regions. This observation is consistent with an interpretation that the domain magnetization rotated locally into the sample plane. The saturation field and the film stress exhibited similar trends with nitrogen partial pressure. The results suggest that the perpendicular anisotropy that caused the formation of the stripe domain structure could be induced by the film stress via magnetoelastic coupling

[en] Samples of La_0.4Bi_0.6Mn_1−xTi_xO₃ have been prepared and their microstructure, composition, and magnetic properties have been investigated for x = 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5.The deviation in the inverse susceptibility behavior from Curie-Weiss law and increase in susceptibility exponent indicates the evolution of the Griffith's phase in La_0.4Bi_0.6Mn_1−xTi_xO₃ around T_C. The presence of Griffith's Phase is inferred due to magnetic frustration with increasing Ti concentration. The deviation between field cooled and zero field cooled magnetization curves is observed in these samples and is attributed to the appearance of the spin glass or cluster glass state that arises due to the magnetic anisotropy

[en] This work presents investigations and detailed analysis of ringing in a non-resonant pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) circuit. Ringing is a commonly observed phenomenon in high power switching circuits. The oscillations described as ringing impede measurements in pulsed NMR systems. It is therefore desirable that those oscillations decay fast. It is often assumed that one of the causes behind ringing is the role of the magnetic core used in the antenna (acting as an inductive load). We will demonstrate that an LRC subcircuit is also set-up due to the inductive load and needs to be considered due to its parasitic effects. It is observed that the parasitics associated with the inductive load become important at certain frequencies. The output response can be related to the response of an under-damped circuit and to the magnetic core material. This research work demonstrates and discusses ways of controlling ringing by considering interrelationships between different contributing factors

[en] A study of the effects of microstructural changes on domain structure and magnetic properties as a result of fatigue has been made on Fe-C alloys subjected to either cold work, stress-relief annealing, or heat treatment that produced a ferritic/pearlitic structure. The magnetic properties varied with stress cycling depending on the initial condition of the samples. Variations in coercivity in the initial stage of fatigue were closely related to the changes in dislocation structure. In the intermediate stage of fatigue the observed refinement of domain structures was related to the development of dislocation cell structures and formation of slip bands. In the final stage of fatigue the remanence and maximum permeability decreased dramatically, and this rate of decrease was dependent on the crack propagation rate. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

[en] An equation for the dependence of magnetization on magnetic field in the case of two-dimensional (base plane) anisotropy has been derived. The resulting equation is expressed as an infinite series of modified Bessel functions, unlike the elementary function expressions that are applicable to the one-dimensional (axially anisotropic) and three-dimensional (isotropic) cases. Nevertheless, in the low-field limit, the series can be effectively truncated to give an approximate solution, while, in the high-field limit, an alternative expression has been derived which represents the limiting function as the field strength tends to infinity. The resulting expressions can be used to describe the superparamagnetic magnetization and susceptibility as a function of magnetic field in situations where the magnetic moments are constrained to lie in a plane, with no preferred direction within the plane. This can therefore be applied to two-dimensional structures, such as magnetic thin films, where magnetostatic energy confines the moments to the plane of the film, or to three-dimensional structures with planar magnetocrystalline anisotropy. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

[en] We investigated the effect of magnetic doping on magnetic and transport properties of Bi₂Te₃ thin films. Cr_xBi_2−xTe₃ thin films with x = 0.03, 0.14, and 0.29 were grown epitaxially on mica substrate with low surface roughness (∼0.4 nm). It is found that Cr is an electron acceptor in Bi₂Te₃ and increases the magnetization of Cr_xBi_2−xTe₃. When x = 0.14 and 0.29, ferromagnetism appears in Cr_xBi_2−xTe₃ thin films, where anomalous Hall effect and weak localization of magnetoconductance were observed. The Curie temperature, coercivity, and remnant Hall resistance of thin films increase with increasing Cr concentration. The Arrott-Noakes plot demonstrates that the critical mechanism of the ferromagnetism can be described better with 3D-Heisenberg model than with mean field model. Our work may benefit for the practical applications of magnetic topological insulators in spintronics and magnetoelectric devices

[en] The Barkhausen model of Alessandro et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 68, 2901 (1990)] has been extended to nonstationary domain wall dynamics. The assumptions of the original model limit, its use to situations where the differential permeability, and time derivative of applied field are constant. The later model of Jiles et al. assumes that the Barkhausen activity in a given time interval is proportional to the rate of change of irreversible magnetization which can be calculated from hysteresis models. The extended model presented here incorporates ideas from both of these. It assumes that the pinning field and domain wall velocity behave according to the Alessandro model, but allows the rate of change of the magnetic flux to vary around a moving average which is determined by the shape of the hysteresis curve and the applied magnetic field wave form. As a result, the new model allows for changes in permeability with applied field and can also reproduce the frequency response of experimental Barkhausen signals. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics