Micromagnetic simulations of magnetic particles embedded in magnetic or non-magnetic matrices

Combining soft and hard magnetic materials is not only of technological importance in diverse spintronics elements, but also of high interest in basic research. Here we report on different arrays combining iron and nickel, either in the form of circular nanodots with alternating materials arranged in a regular array, or by embedding circular nanodots of one material in a matrix of the other one. Micromagnetic simulations were performed using the Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework (OOMMF). Our results show that magnetization reversal processes are strongly influenced by neighboring nanodots and the magnetic matrix in which the nanodots are embedded, respectively, which becomes macroscopically visible by several steps along the slopes of the hysteresis loops. Snapshots of the magnetization reversal processes reveal the microscopic processes inside nanodots and magnetic matrix. Such material combinations offer, amongst others, the possibility to prepare quaternary and higher-order memories and are thus highly relevant for applications in data storage and processing.