Ultralow magnetostrictive flexible ferromagnetic nanowires

Adjusting microwave sensing frequency through aspect ratio variation and bending repetitions in Permalloy ellipses

The Ferromagnetic Resonance (FMR) phenomenon, marked by the selective absorption of microwave radiation by magnetic materials in the presence of a magnetic field, plays a pivotal role in the development of radar absorbing materials, high speed magnetic storage, and magnetic sensors. This process is integral for technologies requiring precise control over microwave absorption frequencies. We explored how variations in resonance fields can be effectively modulated by adjusting both the shape and stress anisotropies of magnetic materials on a flexible substrate. Utilizing polyethylene-naphthalate (PEN) as the substrate and Permalloy (Ni79Fe21, noted for its positive magnetostriction coefficient) as the magnetic component, we demonstrated that modifications in the aspect ratio and bending repetitions can significantly alter the resonance field. The results, consistent with Kittel's equation and the predictions of a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy model, underscore the potential for flexible substrates in enhancing the sensitivity and versatility of RF-based magnetic devices.

Magneto-Mechanical Coupling Study of Magnetorheological Elastomer Thin Films for Sensitivity Enhancement

Magnetorheological elastomer thin films (MREFs) exhibit remarkable deformability and an adjustable modulus under magnetic fields, rendering them promising in fields such as robotics, flexible sensors, and biomedical engineering. Here, we fabricated MREF by introducing magnetostrictive particles (MSPs) and evaluated the magneto-mechanical coupling effect on the enhancement of sensitivity. The saturation magnetization (Ms) in a parallel anisotropic TbDyFe-PDMS MREF was 5.8 emu/g, and the initial tensile modulus was 55% greater than that of an Iso MREF. We propose a nonlinear magnetorheological formula on the magnetostriction effect, incorporating magnetic dipole interactions and the nonlinear prestress of magnetic particles. This formula highlights the complex nonlinear relationship between the external magnetic field (H) and the key parameters that affect the enhanced MR effect of MSPs-MREF, such as saturation magnetization, remanence (Mr), magnetostriction constant (λs) and stress deviator in ferromagnetic particles (Sed) in the magnetic chain structure. Furthermore, we validate the influence of the key parameters of the rectified magnetorheological formula on a nonlinear magneto-mechanical behavior of MSPs-MREF in PDMS-based MSPs-MREF models by using finite-element simulations. Finally, we developed a biosensor based on MSPs-MREF to detect human serum albumin at low concentrations in human urine samples. There is a 4-fold increase in sensitivity, a lower detection of limit (0.442 μg/mL), and a faster response time (15 min) than traditional biosensors, which in the future might provide an effective way of detecting biomolecules of low concentrations.

Synthesis of nickel nanowires (Ni-NWs) as high ferromagnetic material by electrodeposition technique

Metallic nanowires (NWs) and their different compounds display incredible prospects for their use in various applications including media storage, sensor and solar cell devices along with the biological drug delivery systems. In this research work, the metallic NWs like nickel nanowires (Ni-NWs) are synthesized successfully by employing electrodeposition process. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates are employed as a platform with copper metal coating which acts as an active cathode. The synthesized Ni-NWs are examined through various characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) to study the crystal structure, surface morphology and magnetic properties, respectively. The XRD analysis shows the development of various diffraction planes like Ni (111), Ni (200), Ni (220) which confirms the formation of polycrystalline nickel NWs. The SEM analysis reveals that the range of diameter and length of nickel NWs are found to be ∼160 to 200 and ∼4 to 11 micron respectively showing high aspect ratio (ranged from ∼200 to 300). The ferromagnetic behavior of Ni-NWs is confirmed by the hysteresis loop carried out for parallel and perpendicular configurations having Hc = 100 and 206 Oe, respectively. The obtained results suggest that the synthesized Ni- NWs may be used for high-density media storage devices.

Nanostructure-induced L10-ordering of twinned single-crystals in CoPt ferromagnetic nanowires

L10-ordered ferromagnetic nanowires with large coercivity are essential for realizing next-generation spintronic devices. Ferromagnetic nanowires have been commonly fabricated by first L10-ordering of initially disordered ferromagnetic films by annealing and then etching them into nanowire structures using lithography. If the L10-ordered nanowires can be fabricated using only lithography and subsequent annealing, the etching process can be omitted, which leads to an improvement in the fabrication process for spintronic devices. However, when nanowires are subjected to annealing, they easily transform into droplets, which is well-known as Plateau-Rayleigh instability. Here, we propose a concept of "nanostructure-induced L10-ordering" of twinned single-crystals in CoPt ferromagnetic nanowires with a 30 nm scale ultrafine linewidth on Si/SiO2 substrates. The driving forces for nanostructure-induced L10-ordering during annealing are atomic surface diffusion and extremely large internal stress at ultrasmall 10 nm scale curvature radii of the nanowires. (Co/Pt)6 multilayer nanowires are fabricated by a lift-off process combining electron-beam lithography and electron-beam evaporation, followed by annealing. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscope images and nano-beam electron diffraction patterns clearly indicate nanostructure-induced L10-ordering of twinned single-crystals in the CoPt ferromagnetic nanowires, which exhibit a large coercivity of 10 kOe for perpendicular, longitudinal, and transversal directions of the nanowires. Two-dimensional grazing incidence X-ray diffraction shows superlattice peaks with Debye-Scherrer ring shapes, which also supports the nanostructure-induced L10-ordering. The fabrication method for nanostructure-induced L10-ordered CoPt ferromagnetic nanowires with twinned single-crystals on Si/SiO2 substrates would be significant for future silicon-technology-compatible spintronic applications.

Synthesis of flexible Co nanowires from bulk precursors

This work reports a method of producing flexible cobalt nanowires (NWs) directly from the chemical conversion of bulk precursors at room temperature. Chemical reduction of Li6CoCl8 produces a nanocomposite of Co and LiCl, of which the salt is subsequently removed. The dilute concentration of Co in the precursor combined with the anisotropic crystal structure of the hcp phase leads to 1D growth in the absence of any templates or additives. The Co NWs are shown to have high saturation magnetization (130.6 emu g-1). Our understanding of the NW formation mechanism points to new directions of scalable nanostructure generation.

Reply to the 'Comment on "Ultralow magnetostrictive flexible ferromagnetic nanowires"' by D. Faurie, N. Challab, M. Haboussi, and F. Zighem, Nanoscale, 2022, , DOI: 10.1039/D1NR01773J

In the comment to our paper, D. Faurie et al. have carried out simulations on Co-nanowires subjected to tensile stress perpendicular to the length of the nanowires. According to their simulation, the low effective magnetostriction constant of the Co nanowires results from a very low transfer of stress. They suggest that a higher transfer of stress would be obtained if the wires are bent along the length of the nanowires. Here we compare the result of magneto-optical experiments conducted by bending the nanowires both along and perpendicular to their long axis. The obtained effective magnetostriction of the Co-nanowires is, within the experimental resolution, independent of the bending direction.

Comment on "Ultralow magnetostrictive flexible ferromagnetic nanowires" by G. Muscas, P. E. Jönsson, I. G. Serrano, Ö. Vallin, and M. V. Kamalakar, Nanoscale, 2021, , 6043-6052

In a recent paper (G. Muscas et al.),1 the magnetomechanical behavior of cobalt (Co) magnetic nanowire arrays on a polymeric substrate (polyethylene naphthalate (PEN)) under bending was measured by magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) magnetometry in situ. The authors showed that the magnetomechanical effects were very small and assigned this result to a low effective magnetostriction coefficient due to the nanostructuring. In this comment, we show by numerical calculations that it is the ongoing/current stress distribution within the system that generates this effect. Indeed, the nanostructures being very rigid with respect to the compliant substrate, the strains are mainly concentrated in the substrate and less than 3% of the macroscopic stress is transmitted to the nanostructures.