Nonlinear geometric scaling of coercivity in a three-dimensional nanoscale analog of spin ice

Magnetization hysteresis loops of a three-dimensional nanoscale analog of spin ice based on the nickel inverse opal-like structure (IOLS) have been studied at room temperature. The samples are produced by filling nickel into the voids of artificial opal-like films. The spin ice behavior is induced b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B 2016-08, Vol.94 (6), Article 064424
Main Authors: Shishkin, I. S., Mistonov, A. A., Dubitskiy, I. S., Grigoryeva, N. A., Menzel, D., Grigoriev, S. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antidots
Arrays
Coercive force
Condensed matter
Nanostructure
Nickel
Saturation
Spin ice
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Summary:Magnetization hysteresis loops of a three-dimensional nanoscale analog of spin ice based on the nickel inverse opal-like structure (IOLS) have been studied at room temperature. The samples are produced by filling nickel into the voids of artificial opal-like films. The spin ice behavior is induced by tetrahedral elements within the IOLS, which have the same arrangement of magnetic moments as a spin ice. The thickness of the films vary from a two-dimensional, i.e., single-layered, antidot array to a three-dimensional, i.e., multilayered, structure. The coercive force, the saturation, and the irreversibility field have been measured in dependence of the thickness of the IOLS for in-plane and out-of-plane applied fields. The irreversibility and saturation fields change abruptly from the antidot array to the three-dimensional IOLS and remain constant upon further increase of the number of layers n. The coercive force H sub()cseems to increase logarithmically with increasing n as H sub()cH sub()c0 alpha ln(n+1). The logarithmic law implies the avalanchelike remagnetization of anisotropic structural elements connecting tetrahedral and cubic nodes in the IOLS. We conclude that the "ice rule" is the base of mechanism regulating this process.
ISSN:2469-9950
2469-9969
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.94.064424