Investigation of magnetization behavior in nanoelements using the finite element method

A model of thin film permalloy using an efficient finite element variational approach to the magnetostatic field calculation is described. The material is discretized into a nanoelement structure at the micron level which enables us to investigate material properties due to patterning. Predicted domain structures agree well with experimental data. Interactions between elements are significant and it will be shown that the domain structure in the central element differs from that of its neighbors. As expected, the addition of pointed ends stabilizes the single-domain state. Elements with two pointed ends exhibit pseudo-single-domain behavior. We have studied the single-domain/pseudo-single-domain transition for permalloy platelets, results for noninteracting platelets are given as a function of the elongation. Interactions are shown to increase or decrease the critical size depending on the geometry. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)78608-7].