Spin structures of nanoscale magnetic dots are the subject of increasing scientific effort, as the confinement of spins imposed by the geometrical restrictions makes these structures comparable to some internal characteristic length scales of the magnet. For a vortex (a ferromagnetic dot with a curling magnetic structure), a spot of perpendicular magnetization has been theoretically predicted to exist at the center of the vortex. Experimental evidence for this magnetization spot is provided by magnetic force microscopy imaging of circular dots of permalloy (Ni(80)Fe(20)) 0.3 to 1 micrometer in diameter and 50 nanometers thick.

The motion of a magnetic domain wall in a submicrometer magnetic wire was detected by use of the giant magnetoresistance effect. Magnetization reversal in a submicrometer magnetic wire takes place by the propagation of a magnetic domain wall, which can be treated as a "particle." The propagation velocity of the magnetic domain wall was determined as a function of the applied magnetic field.

The dynamics of magnetostatically coupled vortices in two nanodisks is here investigated analytically and numerically. The rigid vortex model is employed to calculate the magnetostatic interaction between the nanodisks. We use Thiele's equation where collective degrees of freedom describe the motion of each vortex core. We find that there are eigenfrequencies of circular vortex core motion around the disk center, which depend on the core polarizations of the vortices. We also obtain the energy absorption rate of the system when subjected to an oscillating in-plane magnetic field. Finally, we can draw an analogy between this vortex system and a van der Waals diatomic molecule.

The high-frequency magnetic response of Permalloy thin films have been measured using network-analyzer ferromagnetic resonance. We demonstrate that the excitation of spin waves by the coplanar wave-guide modify the magnetic response appreciably, in particular, by causing a frequency shift and broadening of the resonance peak. An analytic theory is presented to account for the experimental observations and provides a quantitative tool to accurately determine the Gilbert damping constant.

Two types of magnetic wires (150 nm width) with trilayer structure consisting of NiFe (20 nm)/Cu (20 nm)/Co (20 nm) were prepared. One was connected to a square pad (0.5×0.5 μm2) at one end, while the other has a symmetrical shape with two flat ends. Magnetization reversal was detected sensitively by magnetoresistance measurement. Switching field of the Co layer for the wire with a pad was much smaller than that for the wire without a pad. This indicates that a domain wall nucleates initially in the pad and is injected into the wire at the switching field. This model for the magnetization reversal process is supported by the angular dependence of the switching field.

The cross-tie wall is a kind of magnetic domain wall composed of a main straight wall and crossing subwalls and observed in magnetic thin films. This wall contains two kinds of magnetic vortex structures: “circular vortex” and “antivortex.” At the cores of both vortices, the existence of a spot with perpendicular magnetization has been theoretically predicted. We have detected the perpendicular magnetization spots at each vortex core and identified the direction of it by applying magnetic force microscopy imaging to cross-tie walls in patterned rectangular thin permalloy (Ni80Fe20) films. We also fabricated magnetic structures that contain only antivortex by engineering the shape of thin films.

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The contact doping profile is controlled in the top-contact configuration to clarify a transistor operation based on a current injection process from the metal contact to the organic channel in a submicron channel pentacene field-effect transistor. The molecular doping in the pentacene film underneath the metal contact, in which a thin layer of iron (III) chloride was introduced, drastically changes transistor characteristics. The doping profile control directly revealed the resistive part for current injection. A model to explain the saturation behavior of the top-contact short channel organic transistor is presented.