Reversal mechanisms of coupled bi-component magnetic nanostructures

Abstract

Magnetostatically coupled bi-component (NiFe/Fe) thin film structures were fabricated using angle deposition and liftoff processes, including bi-component dots consisting of a crescent of Fe adjacent to a lens of NiFe and rectangular rings with two or four NiFe sides plus two Fe sides. The NiFe and Fe regions are self-aligned and are separated by narrow gaps, and the reversal processes of the bi-component structures are governed by magnetostatic coupling between the NiFe and Fe. In the ring structures, the formation of vortex states of specific chirality could be controlled. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.