Size-Specific Spin Configurations in Single Iron Nanomagnet: From Flower to Exotic Vortices

Christophe Gatel (1) , Francisco Javier Bonilla (2) , Anca Meffre (2) , Bénédicte Warot-Fonrose (1) , Etienne Snoeck (1) , Bruno Chaudret (2) , Lise-Marie Lacroix (2) , Thomas Blon (2)

1 CEMES - Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales
2 LPCNO - Laboratoire de physique et chimie des nano-objets

The different spin configurations in the vicinity of the single-domain/vortex transition are reported in isolated magnetic nanoparticles. By combining chemical synthesis, electron holography in a dedicated transmission electron microscope and micromagnetic simulations, we establish the “magnetic configurations vs size” phase diagram of Fe single-crystalline nanocubes. Room temperature high resolution magnetic maps reveal the transition between single-domain and vortex states for Fe nanocubes from 25 to 27 nm, respectively. An intermediate spin configuration consisting of an ⟨111⟩ vortex is for the first time evidenced.

Mots clés: vortex state; electron holography; flower state; magnetic configuration; nanocube; single domain state

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Christophe Gatel, Francisco Javier Bonilla, Anca Meffre, Bénédicte Warot-Fonrose, Etienne Snoeck, et al.. Size-Specific Spin Configurations in Single Iron Nanomagnet: From Flower to Exotic Vortices. Nano Letters, 2015, 15 (10), pp.6952 - 6957. ⟨10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02892⟩. ⟨hal-01707143⟩