Computational and experimental micromagnetics of arrays of 2-D platelets

2-D regular nanoelements are of interest as micromagnetic model systems and in a number of sensor applications. In this paper we concentrate on a recent development in the form of experimental structures of arrays of small nanoelements which are 300 nm long and between 50-80 nm wide in small arrays which are amenable to computational studies. A direct comparison of theoretical and experimental hysteresis loops gives good quantitative agreement and suggests that both interactions and variations in intrinsic properties contribute significantly to the width of the loops. The experimental samples were produced by electron beam lithography and consisted of either a 6/spl times/3 array or a 6 element row. The intra-row spacing was 50 nm or 80 nm and the inter-row spacing was 100 nm. Magnetic images were obtained by Lorentz microscopy, from which the magnetization curves were determined. Computational studies were carried out using a finite element method with magnetostatic field calculations via the maximization of the scalar potential. The technique is computationally efficient and allows the calculation of the properties of interacting elements.