Room temperature giant magnetostriction in single-crystal nickel nanowires

Abstract

Magnetostriction is the emergence of a mechanical deformation induced by an external magnetic field. The conversion of magnetic energy into mechanical energy via magnetostriction at the nanoscale is the basis of many electromechanical systems such as sensors, transducers, actuators, and energy harvesters. However, cryogenic temperatures and large magnetic fields are often required to drive the magnetostriction in such systems, rendering this approach energetically inefficient and impractical for room-temperature device applications. Here, we report the experimental observation of giant magnetostriction in single-crystal nickel nanowires at room temperature. We determined the average values of the magnetostrictive constants of a Ni nanowire from the shifts of the measured diffraction patterns using the 002 and 111 Bragg reflections. At an applied magnetic field of 600 Oe, the magnetostrictive constants have values of λ 100 = −0.161% and λ 111 = −0.067%, two orders of magnitude larger than those in bulk nickel. Using Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI), we obtained the three-dimensional strain distribution inside the Ni nanowire, revealing nucleation of local strain fields at two different values of the external magnetic field. Our analysis indicates that the enhancement of the magnetostriction coefficients is mainly due to the increases in the shape, surface-induced, and stress-induced anisotropies, which facilitate magnetization along the nanowire axis and increase the total magnetoelastic energy of the system.

X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy Study of Uniaxial Magnetic Anisotropy Induced in a Ni Layer Deposited on a LiNbO3 Substrate

“…Therefore, the heterojunction between the magnetic metallic film and the ferroelectric substrate induces the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy via the interface effect including the magnetoelastic effect, magnetostriction [ 5 , 24 , 25 ], DMI [ 21 , 22 ], and electron wave function interference at the interface through the Rashba effect [ 23 ]. This investigation revealed an electronic state modulated by the heterojunction.…”

“…For example, in the Ni/Cu(100), Fe/Cu(100), and Fe/MgO systems, the magnetic anisotropy is induced by the orbital-coupling and spin-flip at the interface [ 3 , 4 , 17 ]. Candidate phenomena that are useful for inducing magnetic anisotropy are the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) [ 21 , 22 ], Rashba interaction [ 23 ], magnetoelastic effect, and magnetostriction [ 24 , 25 ]. These interactions and effects can also be induced by symmetry breaking and bonding at the interface.…”

Combining Laue diffraction with Bragg coherent diffraction imaging at 34-ID-C

“…Bragg coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (BCDI) allows the visualization of the local atomic lattice displacement of single nanoparticles or grains in three ISSN 1600-5775 dimensions. BCDI is compatible with operando measurements under different external stimuli, such as compression or tension, femtosecond laser light pulses, electric and magnetic fields allowing the visualization of evolving strain inside nanoparticles and ultimately the investigation of materials properties at the nanoscale (Clark et al, 2013(Clark et al, , 2014(Clark et al, , 2015Ulvestad et al, 2015Ulvestad et al, , 2017Pateras et al, 2019;Cherukara et al, 2017;Bjö rling et al, 2019;Takahashi et al, 2013;Newton et al, 2019).…”

“…Then, by collecting at least three reflections, the three-dimensional (3D) image of the strain tensor of a nanocrystal can be obtained. This unique capability will be crucial for investigating properties of crystalline materials where the knowledge of the crystallographic orientation with respect to the axis of external stimuli is imperative (Pateras et al, 2019;Newton et al, 2009).…”

Laser-Assisted Synthesis and Oxygen Generation of Nickel Nanoparticles

“…It has been found that nickel nanomaterials can exhibit unprecedented compressive strength [ 21 ], have pesticidal properties [ 22 ], perform in fuel cells [ 23 ], or can be used as an effective catalyst [ 24 ]. Moreover, the versatility of nickel allows it to be synthesized in various forms, such as foam, wires, spheres, shells, or tubes [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. There are numerous works in which PLAL technique was introduced to obtain nickel nanoparticles.…”