Magnetization reversal and dynamics in non-interacting NiFe mesoscopic ring arrays

Abstract

The dynamics of magnetization (M) reversal and relaxation as a function of temperature (T) are reported in three non-interacting NiFe ring arrays having fixed ring outer diameter and varying widths. Additionally, the dependence of M(H) loop on the angle (h) between magnetic field (H) and the plane of the rings is addressed. The M(H) loops show a double step transition from onion state (OS) to vortex state (VS) at all temperatures (T ¼ 3 to 300 K) and angles (h ¼ 0 to 90 ). The critical reversal fields H C1 (OS to VS) and H C2 (VS to OS) show a pronounced dependence on T, ring width, and h. Estimation of the transverse and vortex domain wall energies reveals that the latter is favored in the OS. The OS is also the remanent state in the smallest rings and decays with the effective energy scale (U 0 /T) of 50 and 32 meV/K at 10 and 300 K, respectively. The robust in-plane anisotropy of magnetization of ring assemblies is established by scaling the M(H) with h.