Controlling Magnetic Anisotropy in Amplitude Expansion of Phase Field Crystal Model

Abstract

The amplitude expansion for a magnetic phase-field-crystal (magnetic APFC) model enables a convenient coarse-grained description of crystalline structures under the influence of magnetic fields. Considering higher-order magnetic coupling terms, the possibility of tuning the magnetic anisotropy in these models is demonstrated. This allows reproducing the easy and hard directions of magnetization. Such a result can be achieved without increasing the computational cost, enabling simulations of the manipulation of dislocation networks and microstructures in ferromagnetic materials. As a demonstration, the simulation of the shrinkage of a spherical grain with the magnetic anisotropy of Fe is reported.