Two Aspects of Magnetic Nanoparticle Self-Assembly on Thin-Film Multilayers: Custom Media Properties and Accurate Determination of Nanoparticle Anisotropy Constant

ZFC/FC moment versus temperature measurements are a common technique to determine magnetic properties of nanoparticles. In this work, I varied both applied field strength and nanoparticle concentration to study resulting changes in blocking temperature, TB, and anisotropy constant, K. TB and K values were obtained using both existing and new analytic methods. Accurate determination of these parameters helps researchers optimize the use of magnetic nanoparticles for a variety of applications, including magnetic heating, drug delivery, and magnetic field-directed self-assembly. For magnetic self-assembly particularly, not only nanoparticle properties, but also the magnetic properties of the substrate alter the pattern produced. In addition to examining the effects of field and concentration on ZFC/FC data, this work begins the journey toward custom magnetic recording media, optimized for magnetic self-assembly of nanoparticles