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Size and thickness effect on magnetic structures of maghemite hollow magnetic nanoparticles

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Abstract

The effect of surface anisotropy on the magnetic ground state of hollow maghemite nanoparticles is investigated using atomistic Monte Carlo simulation. The computer modeling is carried on hollow nanostructures as a function of size and shell thickness. It is found that the large contribution of the surface anisotropy imposes a “throttled” spin structure where the moments located at the outer surface tend to orient normal to the surface while those located at the inner surface appear to be more aligned. For increasing values of surface anisotropy in the frame of a radial model, the magnetic moments become radially oriented either inward or outward giving rise to a “hedgehog” configuration with nearly zero net magnetization. We also show the effect of the size of hollow nanoparticle on the spin behavior where the spin non-collinearity increases (for fixed value of surface anisotropy) as the diameter of the hollow nanoparticle increases due to the significant increase in surface-to-volume ratio, the thickness being constant. Moreover, the thickness of the hollow nanoparticle shell influences the spin configuration and thus the relation between surface anisotropy and the size or the thickness of the hollow nanoparticle is established.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Molécules et Matériaux du Mans CNRS UMR-6283, Université du Maine, Avenue Messiaen, 72085, Le Mans, France

    Fatima Sayed, Yvan Labaye, Nader Yaacoub & Jean-Marc Greneche

  2. MPLAB, Université Libanaise, Faculté des Sciences Section I, Beyrouth, Lebanon

    Fatima Sayed, Rodaina Sayed Hassan & Fouad El Haj Hassan

Authors
  1. Fatima Sayed
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  2. Yvan Labaye
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  3. Rodaina Sayed Hassan
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  4. Fouad El Haj Hassan
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  5. Nader Yaacoub
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  6. Jean-Marc Greneche
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yvan Labaye or Nader Yaacoub.

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Sayed, F., Labaye, Y., Sayed Hassan, R. et al. Size and thickness effect on magnetic structures of maghemite hollow magnetic nanoparticles. J Nanopart Res 18, 279 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3584-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3584-x

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