Nanoscale Magnetic Arrays through Block Copolymer Templating of Polyoxometalates

Magnetic nanoarrays promise to enable new energy-efficient computations based on spintronics or magnonics. In this work, we present a block copolymer-assisted strategy for fabricating ordered magnetic nanostructures on silicon and permalloy substrates. Block copolymer micelle-like structures were used as a template in which polyoxometalate (POM) clusters could assemble in an opal-like structure. A combination of microscopy and scattering techniques was used to confirm the structural and organizational features of the fabricated materials. The magnetic properties of these materials were investigated by polarized neutron reflectometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and magnetometry measurements. The data show that a magnetic structural design was achieved and that a thin layer of patterned POMs strongly influenced an underlying permalloy layer. This work demonstrates that the bottom-up pathway is a potentially viable method for patterning magnetic substrates on a sub-100 nm scale, toward the magnetic nanostructures needed for spintronic or magnonic crystal devices.