Magnetic Characterization of Submicron Wires and Nanowires Using Digital Integration Techniques

A new procedure for performing magnetic measurements on a single ultrathin magnetic wire is presented. The proposed solution is based on the use of digital integration techniques. Such a new measuring method was required by the recent development of novel magnetic materials such as rapidly solidified amorphous nanowires and submicron wires, for which a fast and reliable method of measuring the axial hysteresis loop was lacking. The new procedure implies two methods of measuring the hysteresis loop: one which requires a large number of measurements in order to determine the profile of the hysteresis loop, and another one which removes all the noise from rectangular loops associated with magnetically bistable samples. The first method can be employed for any ultrathin wire shaped sample, while the second one is suitable only for bistable samples with rectangular hysteresis loops, although it is ultrafast.