Magnetization reversal processes of single nanomagnets and their energy barrier

Micromagnetic simulations were performed to investigate the influence of geometry and magnetic anisotropy constant on energy barrier and magnetization reversal mechanism of individual bits important for the bit patterned media concept in magnetic data storage. It is shown that dependency of the energy barrier on magnetic and geometric properties of bits can be described by an analytical approach in the case of quasi-coherent magnetization rotation process. However, when the bit size exceeds a critical size, for which an incoherent magnetization reversal is preferred, the analytical approach becomes invalid and no self-consistent theory is available. By systematically investigating the influence of bit size on the magnetization reversal mode, it was found that the transition from quasi-coherent to incoherent magnetization reversal mode can still be described analytically if an activation volume is considered instead of the bit volume. In this case, the nucleation volume is an important parameter determining thermal stability of the bit. If the volume of the bit is larger than twice the activation volume, the energy barrier stays nearly constant; with further increase in bit size, no gain in thermal stability can be achieved (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.