Magnetic properties and magnetization reversal of α-Fe nanowires deposited in alumina film

Uniform arrays of Fe nanowires were prepared by electrochemical deposition of iron into nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide films. The microstructure and crystal structures of the nanowires were studied by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. It was found that each nanowire looked like a chain of dots and each dot in the chain was supposed to be a single crystal of α-Fe. Each dot was shown to be a single magnetic domain. The magnetic properties of a uniform array of Fe nanowires and the magnetization reversal in a Fe nanowire were investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry, which demonstrated that the film of Fe nanowires in alumina had superior perpendicular magnetic characteristics. The magnetic studies also revealed that the moments of each single domain dot were oriented along the chain. Experimental results could be interpreted by the reversal model of “chains of spheres” with the symmetric fanning mechanism.