Shape anisotropy and exchange bias in magnetic flattened nanospindles with metallic/oxide core/shell structures

A preliminary study of the magnetic phenomenology of Fe and Fe90Co10 nanospindles with axial ratio equal to 5 is presented. These nanospindles are constituted by single-domains single-crystals coated by oxide surface layer and assembled in chains into the nanospindle. The thermal dependence of the coercive field and the saturation magnetization in the temperature range from 4 K up to room temperature indicates that the coercive field is roughly proportional to the saturation magnetization (which follows the T3/2 Bloch law) at temperatures above the blocking temperature of the oxide. This suggests that the predominant source of magnetic anisotropy in this temperature range is the shape anisotropy. However, at temperatures below the oxide blocking temperature, the magnetic coupling between the spins of the oxide and the nanocrystals is produced at the interface. This exchange coupling enhances the effective anisotropy of the nanospindles and the coercive field increases more abruptly than the saturation of magnetization as temperature decreases.