Analytically modelling the effects of interaction between two or more rectangular nanomagnets

In a recent paper (Goode and Rowlands J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 295 (2005) 197-218), the micromagnetic equations which govern the magnetization distribution have been studied for rectangular nano-sized magnets where the magnetization is nearly uniform. Analytical solutions to these equations have been obtained in the form of Fourier series in which only the first few terms in the series are necessary to give results accurate to a few percent. In this paper, the above method is extended to include the effects of interaction between two or more rectangular nanomagnets. The near-uniform nature of the magnetization distributions is shown to change depending on the distance the nanomagnets are apart from each other. To estimate at what distance between the nanomagnets this interaction becomes important and therefore must be included in the analysis, the demagnetizing and interaction energies are compared for an array of uniformly magnetized rectangular nanomagnets.