Realignment of slanted Fe nanorods on silicon substrates by a strong magnetic field

Abstract

Slanted Fe nanorods prepared by glancing angle deposition on silicon substrates exhibited easy magnetization along their growth axis. By using a thin gold film on a silicon substrate as a buffer layer, slanted Fe nanorods can be realigned towards the substrate surface normal by a strong magnetic field. After realignment, the Fe nanorods retained the easy magnetization axis along their growth axis. The effects of the realignment by the strong magnetic field on the properties of the slanted Fe nanorods were also investigated. This study provides a possible way to fabricate magnetic nanostructures for perpendicular recording applications. © 2010 Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.