Eur. Phys. J. B 44, 259-264 (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2005-00122-7

Transition from coherent rotation to curling mode reversal process in ferromagnetic nanowires

¹ Information Storage Materials Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576, Singapore
² Institute of Microelectronics, 11 Science Park Road, Singapore Science Park II, Singapore 117685, Singapore

Corresponding author: ^a eleaao@nus.edu.sg

Received: 2 November 2004
Revised: 24 January 2005
Published online: 20 April 2005

Abstract

We have investigated the evolution in the magnetization reversal mechanism of lithographically defined Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ nanowire arrays with varied film thicknesses. The nanowire array of width 185 nm and spacing 35 nm were fabricated using deep ultraviolet lithography at 248 nm exposing wavelength. We observed a cross-over from coherent rotation to curling reversal mode when the thickness to width ratio ≥ 0.5. We have aided our understanding of the reversal process with theoretical modeling. A marked increase in the coercive field characterized the intermediate region between coherent rotation and magnetization curling.