Grégory Chaboussant

Studies of a Nickel-Based Single-Molecule Magnet

A cyclic complex [Ni12(chp)12(O2CMe)12(thf)6(H2O)6] (1) has been synthesised and studied (chp=6-chloro-2-pyridonate). Complex 1 exhibits ferromagnetic exchange between the S=1 centres, giving an S=12 spin ground state. Detailed studies demonstrate that it is a single-molecule magnet with an energy barrier of approximately 10 K for reorientation of magnetisation. Resonant quantum tunnelling is also observed. The field between resonances allows accurate measurement of D, which is 0.067 K. Inelastic neutron scattering studies have allowed exchange parameters to be derived accurately, which was impossible from susceptibility data alone. Three exchange interactions are required: two ferromagnetic nearest neighbour interactions of approximately 11 and 2 cm−1 and an anti-ferromagnetic next nearest neighbour interaction of −0.9 cm−1.

Magnetic nanowires as permanent magnet materials

We present the fabrication of metallic magnetic nanowires using a low temperature chemical process. We show that pressed powders and magnetically oriented samples exhibit a very high coercivity (6.5kOe at 140K and 4.8kOe at 300K). We discuss the magnetic properties of these metamaterials and show that they have the suitable properties to realize “high temperature magnets” competitive with AlNiCo or SmCo permanent magnets. They could also be used as recording media for high density magnetic recording.

Low-energy spin excitations in the molecular magnetic cluster V15

We report an Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) study of the fully deuterated molecular compound K6[V15IVAs6O42] · 9D2O (V15). Due to geometrical frustration, the essential physics at low temperatures of the V15 cluster containing 15 coupled V4+ (S = 1/2) is determined by three weakly coupled spin-(1/2) on a triangle. The INS spectra at low energy allow us to directly determine the effective exchange coupling J0 = 0.211(2) meV within the triangle and the gap 2Δ = 0.035(2) meV between the two spin-(1/2) doublets of the ground state. Results are discussed in terms of deviations from trigonal symmetry and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions.

NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE STUDY OF THE S = 1/2 HEISENBERG LADDER CU2(C5HJ2N2)2C14 : QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITION AND CRITICAL DYNAMICS

We present an extensive NMR study of the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg ladder Cu2(C5H12N2)2Cl4 in a magnetic field range 4.5 - 16.7 T. By measuring the proton NMR relaxation rate 1/T_1 and varying the magnetic field around the critical field H_c1 = Delta / g\mu_B = 7.5 T, we have studied the transition from a gapped spin liquid ground state to a gapless magnetic regime which can be described as a Luttinger liquid. We identify an intermediate regime T > |H-H_c1|, where the spin dynamics is (possibly) only controlled by the T=0 critical point H_c1.

Effects of the shape of elongated magnetic particles on the coercive field

Magnetic nanowires could be the building bricks in the fabrication of composite magnetic materials because of their large intrinsic shape anisotropy. We investigate the relation between the detailed shape of a magnetic nanowire and its magnetic coercivity. We have performed three-dimensional micromagnetic simulations on various types of nanowires synthesized during the past few years such as cylinders, dumbbells, or diabolos. The calculations, performed on individual model objects, show that the wire tip plays a key role in the reversal mechanism and on the magnitude of the coercive field and that the aspect ratio plays a much lesser role. Ellipsoidal or cylindrical shapes favor a coherent rotation of the magnetization and thus large coercive fields. Complex tip shapes act as nucleation points and significantly reduce the coercive field. Thus, in order to optimize the shape of magnetic nanowires for permanent magnet applications, the focus should be put on the detailed shape of the wire tips and thus on t...

Dipolar interactions in arrays of ferromagnetic nanowires: A micromagnetic study

We explore the behavior of periodic arrays of magnetic nanowires by micromagnetic simulations using the NMAG modeling package. A large number of modeling studies on such arrays of nanowires have been performed using finite size models. We show that these finite size micromagnetic descriptions can only be used in specific situations. We perform a systematic study of more or less dense one- and two-dimensional arrays of nanowires using either finite size or infinite size models and we show that finite size models fail to capture some of the features of real infinite systems. We show that the mean field model scaled to the system porosity is valid. This work can be used as a basis to the extension of micromagnetic calculations of the magnetization dynamics in arrays of nanowires.

Exchange bias in Co/CoO core-shell nanowires: Role of antiferromagnetic superparamagnetic fluctuations

The magnetic properties of Co ( =15 nm, =130nm) nanowires are reported. In oxidized wires, we measure large exchange bias fields of the order of 0.1 T below T ~ 100 K. The onset of the exchange bias, between the ferromagnetic core and the anti-ferromagnetic CoO shell, is accompanied by a coercivity drop of 0.2 T which leads to a minimum in coercivity at

Oriented magnetic nanowires with high coercivity

\sim100

Solution Epitaxial Growth of Cobalt Nanowires on Crystalline Substrates for Data Storage Densities beyond 1 Tbit/in2

K. Magnetization relaxation measurements show a temperature dependence of the magnetic viscosity S which is consistent with a volume distribution of the CoO grains at the surface. We propose that the superparamagnetic fluctuations of the anti-ferromagnetic CoO shell play a key role in the flipping of the nanowire magnetization and explain the coercivity drop. This is supported by micromagnetic simulations. This behavior is specific to the geometry of a 1D system which possesses a large shape anisotropy and was not previously observed in 0D (spheres) or 2D (thin films) systems which have a high degree of symmetry and low coercivities. This study underlines the importance of the AFM super-paramagnetic fluctuations in the exchange bias mechanism.

Mechanism of ground-state selection in the frustrated molecular spin cluster V15

CoNi magnetic nanowires with a mean diameter of 7 nm and a mean length in the range 100–300 nm have been prepared by reduction of a mixture of cobalt and nickel salts in a sodium hydroxide solution in a liquid polyol. The shape control is related to the particle growth rate which is strongly dependent on the basicity and on the Co–Ni composition. We show that high growth rate favours cobalt urchin-like particles while lower growth rate favours dumbbell-like bimetallic cobalt–nickel particles. Wire formation corresponds to an optimization of the growth conditions and is obtained in a narrow range of basicity and Co–Ni composition. Structural studies showed well crystallized wires with their long axis corresponding to the crystallographic c-axis of the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) phase. Multipods are also observed in which several wires have grown from a single nucleus presenting a cubic structure. Addition of surfactants (trioctyl phosphine and oleic acid) allows the modification of the wire surface and favours their dispersion in toluene. Square hysteresis curves are obtained on wires aligned under magnetic field and frozen in toluene or in PMMA with remanence to saturation ratio close to 1 and coercivity of 6.5 kOe. This value is much higher than was previously obtained on anisotropic particles prepared by the polyol process and results from an improvement of the shape control and the good crystallinity of the wires.