Enhanced magnetic anisotropy in cobalt-carbide nanoparticles

Authors

Ahmed A. El-Gendy, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow
Meichun Qian, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow
Zachary J. Huba, Virginia Commonwealth University
Shiv N. Khanna, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow
Everett E. Carpenter, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Original Publication Date

2014

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Applied Physics Letters

Volume

104

Issue

2

DOI of Original Publication

10.1063/1.4862260

Comments

Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4862260

Date of Submission

March 2015

Abstract

An outstanding problem in nano-magnetism is to stabilize the magnetic order in nanoparticles at room temperatures. For ordinary ferromagnetic materials, reduction in size leads to a decrease in the magnetic anisotropy resulting in superparamagnetic relaxations at nanoscopic sizes. In this work, we demonstrate that using wet chemical synthesis, it is possible to stabilize cobalt carbide nanoparticles which have blocking temperatures exceeding 570 K even for particles with magnetic domains of 8 nm. First principles theoretical investigations show that the observed behavior is rooted in the giant magnetocrystalline anisotropies due to controlled mixing between C p- and Co d-states.

Rights

El-Gendy, A.A., Qian, M., Huba, Z.J., et al., Enhanced magnetic anisotropy in colbalt-carbide nanoparticles. Applied Physics Letters, 104, 023111 (2014). Copyright © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Is Part Of

VCU Chemistry Publications