Ion irradiation induced effects and magnetization reversal mechanism in (Ni80Fe20)1−xCox nanowires and nanotubes

• We have prepared the ferromagnetic NiFeCo nanowires and nanotubes into anodized aluminum oxide templates (AAO) by electrodeposition method.
• We have studied the magnetization reversal mechanism from the angle dependent coercivity measured by a hysteresis loop.
• The ion irradiation effects on these nanostructures have also been studied to tune the magnetic properties according to our own choice.

The effect of Co on the ferromagnetic characteristics of the Ni80Fe20 nanocylinders having zero magnetostriction and soft magnetic nature is an interesting field of research. The (Ni80Fe20)1−xCox nanocylinders have been prepared by electrodeposition into commercially available anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) nanoporous templates. The analysis of magnetization reversal from the angular dependence of coercivity has been studied in detail. This angular dependence of coercivity has shown a transition from curling to nucleation mode as a function of field angle for all (Ni80Fe20)1−xCox nanocylinders depending upon the critical angle. The shape anisotropy, dipole–dipole interactions, surface effects and magnetocrystalline anisotropy have been found to play an effective role for the spontaneous magnetization in nanowires and nanotubes. It has been interestingly observed that the magnetostatic interactions or dipole–dipole interactions are dominant in nanocylinders regardless of its geometry.Furthermore, the prepared samples have been irradiated with He2+ ions (energy E=2 MeV, fluence=1014 ions/cm2 and ion current=16 nA) at room temperature using a 5-UDH-2pelletron tandem accelerator. The irradiations have created defects and these defects have induced changes in magnetization as a result an increase in coercivity as function of the ion fluences is observed. Such kind of behavior in coercivity enhancement and magnetization reduction can also be attributed to the stress relaxation and percolation in nonuniform states of ferromagnetic alloys, respectively.