We report on magnetic domain-wall velocity measurements in ultrathin Pt/Co(0.5-0.8 nm)/Pt films with perpendicular anisotropy over a large range of applied magnetic fields. The complete velocity-field characteristics are obtained, enabling an examination of the transition between thermally activated creep and viscous flow: motion regimes predicted from general theories for driven elastic interfaces in weakly disordered media. The dissipation limited flow regime is found to be consistent with precessional domain-wall motion, analysis of which yields values for the damping parameter, alpha.

We present an analytical calculation of the velocity of a single 180 • domain wall in a magnetic structure with reduced thickness and/or lateral dimension under the combined action of an external applied magnetic field and an electrical current. As for the case of field-induced domain wall propagation in thick films, two motion regimes with different mobilities are obtained, below and far above the so-called Walker field. Additionally, for the case of current induced motion, a Walker-like current density threshold can be defined. When the dimensions of the system become comparable to the domain wall width, the threshold field and current density, stating the wall's internal structure stability, are reduced by the same geometrical demagnetising factor which accounts for the confinement. This points out the fact that the velocity dependence over an extended field/current range and the knowledge of the Walker breakdown are mandatory to draw conclusions about the phenomenological Gilbert damping parameter tuning the magnetisation dynamics.

We demonstrate experimentally dynamic interface binding in a system consisting of two coupled ferromagnetic layers. While domain walls in each layer have different velocity-field responses, for two broad ranges of the driving field H, walls in the two layers are bound and move at a common velocity. The bound states have their own velocity-field response and arise when the isolated wall velocities in each layer are close, a condition which always occurs as H→0. Several features of the bound states are reproduced using a one-dimensional model, illustrating their general nature.

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We demonstrate the use of the magnetic-field-dependence of highly spatially confined, GHz-frequency ferromagnetic resonances in a ferromagnetic nanostructure for the detection of adsorbed magnetic nanoparticles. This is achieved in a large area magnonic crystal consisting of a thin ferromagnetic film containing a periodic array of closely spaced, nano-scale anti-dots. Stray fields from nanoparticles within the anti-dots modify resonant dynamic magnetisation modes in the surrounding magnonic crystal, generating easily measurable resonance peak shifts. The shifts are comparable to the resonance linewidths for high anti-dot filling fractions with their signs and magnitudes dependent upon the modes' localisations (in agreement with micromagnetic simulation results). This is a highly encouraging result for the development of frequencybased nanoparticle detectors for high speed nano-scale biosensing.Magnetic biosensors, in which biological analytes are tagged with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), have excellent potential for solid-state point-of-care medical diagnostics 1-3 . The technique is intrinsically matrix-insesntive 1 , can compete with industry-standard immunoassays 4 and can be combined with magnetic separation methods 5 . The central element of a magnetic biosensor is a detector for the stray or 'fringing' magnetic fields generated by magnetised MNPs which are used to label, typically in-vitro, analytes of interest within a biological sample. Previously used sensors include SQuIDs 6 , Hall sensors 7 , ferromagnetic rings 8,9 and magneto-impedance devices 10 . However one of the most widely used methods is that employing magnetoresistive (MR) magnetic field sensors [1][2][3][4][5][11][12][13][14] which are typically fabricated with at least one

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Clear advantages of nanopatterned Pd/Co fi lms over continuous Pd/Co fi lms are demonstrated as candidates for future hydrogen gas sensing devices based upon hydrogen-absorption-modifi ed ferromagnetic resonance. Nanopatterning results in a higher sensitivity to hydrogen gas and a much faster hydrogen desorption rate. It also avoids the need for an external biasing magnetic fi eld which may be important for practical sensor implementation. A wide range of hydrogen gas concentrations has been detected with the nanopatterned material: from 0.1% to 50%, across the threshold of hydrogen fl ammability in air (4%).

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