Unraveling Nanostructured Spin Textures in Bulk Magnets

in Small Science (2020), 1(1), 2000003

One of the key challenges in magnetism remains the determination of the nanoscopic magnetization profile within the volume of thick samples, such as permanent ferromagnets. Thanks to the large penetration ... [more ▼]

One of the key challenges in magnetism remains the determination of the nanoscopic magnetization profile within the volume of thick samples, such as permanent ferromagnets. Thanks to the large penetration depth of neutrons, magnetic small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a powerful technique to characterize bulk samples. The major challenge regarding magnetic SANS is accessing the real-space magnetization vector field from the reciprocal scattering data. In this letter, a fast iterative algorithm is introduced that allows one to extract the underlying two-dimensional magnetic correlation functions from the scattering patterns. This approach is used here to analyze the magnetic microstructure of Nanoperm, a nanocrystalline alloy which is widely used in power electronics due to its extraordinary soft magnetic properties. It can be shown that the computed correlation functions clearly reflect the projection of the three-dimensional magnetization vector field onto the detector plane, which demonstrates that the used methodology can be applied to probe directly spin-textures within bulk samples with nanometer-resolution. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. [less ▲]

Magnetic Guinier law

in IUCrJ (2020), 7

Small-angle scattering of x-rays and neutrons is a routine method for the determination of nanoparticle sizes. The so-called Guinier law represents the low-q approximation for the small-angle scattering ... [more ▼]

Small-angle scattering of x-rays and neutrons is a routine method for the determination of nanoparticle sizes. The so-called Guinier law represents the low-q approximation for the small-angle scattering curve from an assembly of particles. The Guinier law has originally been derived for nonmagnetic particle-matrix-type systems, and it is successfully employed for the estimation of particle sizes in various scientific domains (e.g., soft matter physics, biology, colloidal chemistry, materials science). An important prerequisite for it to apply is the presence of a discontinuous interface separating particles and matrix. Here, we introduce the Guinier law for the case of magnetic small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and experimentally demonstrate its applicability for the example of nanocrystalline cobalt. It is well- known that the magnetic microstructure of nanocrystalline ferromagnets is highly nonuniform on the nanometer length scale and characterized by a spectrum of continuously varying long-wavelength magnetization fluctuations, i.e., these systems do not manifest sharp interfaces in their magnetization profile. The magnetic Guinier radius depends on the applied magnetic field, on the magnetic interactions (exchange, magnetostatics), and on the magnetic anisotropy-field radius, which characterizes the size over which the magnetic anisotropy field is coherently aligned into the same direction. In contrast to the nonmagnetic conventional Guinier law, the magnetic version can be applied to fully dense random-anisotropy-type ferromagnets. [less ▲]

Anisometric mesoscale nuclear and magnetic texture in sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets

in Physical Review Materials (2020), 4

Defect-induced Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in a nanocrystalline two-phase alloy

in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter (2020), 32

Effect of grain-boundary diffusion process on the geometry of the grain microstructure of Nd−Fe−B nanocrystalline magnets

in Physical Review Materials (2019), 3(084410),

Magnetic Guinier Law

Poster (2019, June)

We introduce the Guinier law for the case of magnetic SANS and provide an analysis of experimental data on a Nd-Fe-B-based nanocomposite and on a rare-earth-free MnBi permanent magnet. The robustness of ... [more ▼]

We introduce the Guinier law for the case of magnetic SANS and provide an analysis of experimental data on a Nd-Fe-B-based nanocomposite and on a rare-earth-free MnBi permanent magnet. The robustness of this novel approach is discussed and the quantities derived are analyzed in the framework of the existing research literature. [less ▲]

Evidence for the formation of nanoprecipitates with magnetically disordered regions in bulk Ni50Mn45In5 Heusler alloys

in Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (2019), 99

Microstructural-defect-induced Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

in Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter (2019), 99

Magnetic neutron scattering on nanomagnets

Scientific Conference (2018, September 26)

Magnetic neutron scattering on bulk ferromagnets

Presentation (2018, July 12)