Applied field Mossbauer study of shape anisotropy in Fe nanowire arrays

In order to investigate the magnetic anisotropy of Fe nanowire arrays from microscopic point of view, Fe-57 Mossbauer spectra were measured at various magnetic fields along and perpendicular to the nanowire axis, respectively. On the basis of the absorption intensities of the second and the fifth lines of sextet, the orientation of Fe magnetic moments can be detected. It was found that the shape anisotropy dominates the overall magnetic anisotropy in the Fe nanowires. Furthermore, the longitudinal and transverse demagnetizing fields of Fe nanowire, respectively, were deduced from the effective hyperfine field at Fe-57 nuclei as a function of applied field. The chain-of-spheres model in conjunction with symmetric fanning mechanism was adopted to interpret the domain structure and the parallel coercivity of magnetic nanowire arrays. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.