Patterning nanostructures to study magnetization processes

Lithography techniques such as electron-beam lithography and focused-ion-beam milling are widely used to fabricate structures with dimensions well below 1 Pm. These techniques have been used to produce planar magnetic structures with sub-micrometer dimensions and well controlled geometry. This has allowed the study of basic magnetic behaviour and the development of structures with potential for applications in magnetic recording and magnetic logic devices. The techniques of electron beam lithography and focused-ion-beam milling for the fabrication of magnetic nanostructures are outlined here. These techniques have been used to fabricate ribbon-like planar nanowires to study the behaviour of the individual magnetic domain walls which mediate the reversal process in such elongated structures. These methods allow the production of structures in which the location of domain wall formation and position can be controlled, allowing separation and study of the domain wall nucleation and propagation processes. Domain wall injection and domain wall propagation behaviour are investigated and shown to be stochastic processes.