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We report a study of the magnetic domain structure of nanocrystalline thin films of nickel-zinc ferrite. The ferrite films were synthesized using aqueous spin-spray coating at low temperature (∼90 °C) and showed high complex permeability in the GHz range. Electron microscopy and microanalysis revealed that the films consisted of columnar grains with uniform chemical composition. Off-axis electron holography combined with magnetic force microscopy indicated a multigrain domain structure with in-plane magnetization. The correlation between the magnetic domain morphology and crystal structure is briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a study of the magnetic switching behavior of nanoscale Co rings using off-axis electron holography. Arrays of 10 nm thick polycrystalline Co rings with 400 nm outer diameter (OD) and different inner diameter (ID) were fabricated by electron-beam lithography. The switching behavior of the rings was studied for different OD/ID ratios, and two kinds of reversal mechanism were identified. For OD/ID of 400 nm/250 nm and 400 nm/50 nm, the reversal started from the so-called onion (bidomain) state, proceeding to a stable vortex state, and finally to the reversed onion state. For intermediate OD/ID of 400 nm/150 nm, the reversal was instead accomplished via rotation of head-to-head domain walls around the rings to the reversed onion state without formation of a vortex state. The OD/ID ratio of the rings thus played the most important role in determining the switching process. Irrespective of the reversal mechanism, the coercive field of the rings and the range of the field needed to reverse their magnetization, both increased as the inner ring diameter was increased (i.e., narrower ring). The significance of different contributions to the total energy in causing these differences in switching behavior is briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetization reversal processes in lithographically patterned magnetic elements that have lateral dimensions of 70–500 nm, thicknesses of 3–30 nm and a wide range of shapes and layer sequences have been followed in situ using off-axis electron holography in the transmission electron microscope. This technique allows domain structures within individual elements and the magnetic interactions between them to be quantified at close to the nanometre scale. The behaviour of 30 nm-thick Co elements was compared with that of 10 nm-thick Ni and Co elements, as well as with Co/Au/Ni trilayers. The hysteresis loops of individual elements were determined directly from the measured holographic phase images. The reproducibility of an element's domain structure in successive cycles was found to be affected by the out-of-plane component of the applied magnetic field and by the exact details of its initial magnetic state. Close proximity to adjacent elements led to strong intercell coupling, and remanent states with the inplane magnetic field removed included domain structures such as solenoidal (vortex) states that were never observed during hysteresis cycling. Narrow rectangular bars reversed without the formation of end domains, whereas closely separated magnetic layers within individual elements were observed to couple to each other during field reversal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]