Hard-soft composite magnets (invited)

A thorough micromagnetic analysis of the exchange-spring problem is reported with special emphasis on multilayers constituted by hard-soft exchange-coupled phases. The developed one-dimensional micromagnetic model leads to a complete magnetic phase diagram in terms of layer thicknesses. Both perpendicular and parallel configurations are considered. The phase diagram provides information on the type of demagnetization processes and the critical fields at which nucleation and reversal take place, depending on the intrinsic properties of the chosen soft and hard materials. The model has been applied to a variety of hard magnetic phases (e.g., FePt, CoPt, SmCo and NdFeB), coupled to different soft materials (e.g., Fe, FeCo, FeRh or permalloy) both in the form of bilayers and multilayers. The most significant results will be highlighted. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.