Vortex Structure in Magnetic Nanodots: Dipolar Interaction, Mobile Spin Model, Phase Transition and Melting

TL;DR

This paper investigates the vortex structures, phase transitions, and melting behavior of magnetic nanodots with mobile spins, considering dipolar and exchange interactions through Monte Carlo simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a model with mobile Heisenberg spins in nanodots, analyzing vortex configurations, phase transitions, and surface melting phenomena.

Findings

Ground state forms a vortex structure with perpendicular magnetization.

Surface melting occurs at specific temperature thresholds.

Energy, diffusion, and magnetization vary with temperature.

Abstract

We study in this article properties of a nanodot embedded in a support by Monte Carlo simulation. The nanodot is a piece of simple cubic lattice where each site is occupied by a mobile Heisenberg spin which can move from one lattice site to another under the effect of the temperature and its interaction with neighbors. We take into account a short-range exchange interaction between spins and a long-range dipolar interaction. We show that the ground-state configuration is a vortex around the dot central axis: the spins on the dot boundary lie in the $xy$ plane but go out of plane with a net perpendicular magnetization at the dot center. Possible applications are discussed. Finite-temperature properties are studied. We show the characteristics of the surface melting and determine the energy, the diffusion coefficient and the layer magnetizations as functions of temperature.