La plupart des efforts de développements actuels des STT-MRAM est centrée sur des jonctions tunnels magnétiques à aimantation hors du plan. Les derniers empilements mis au point utilisent avantageusement l’anisotropie perpendiculaire induite aux interfaces magnétiques métal / oxydes, qui permet de réconcilier la forte anisotropie demandée pour assurer une rétention suffisante de la mémoire ainsi qu’une faible densité de courant de retournement STT grâce au couplage spin-orbite faible. Cependant, pour des cellules mémoire de taille inférieure à 20 nm, il est difficile d’atteindre une rétention de 10 ans à 100°C en utilisant uniquement l’anisotropie interfaciale. Pour augmenter encore plus l’anisotropie magnétique, ceci impose l’utilisation de couches magnétiques de CoFeB ultraminces (épaisseur inférieure à 1.4nm) qui présentent un coefficient d’amortissement Gilbert augmenté ainsi qu’une magnétorésistance tunnel TMR réduite. Pour des nœuds technologiques inférieurs à 20 nm, des nouveaux matériaux présentant une forte anisotropie magnétocrystalline et faible coefficient d’amortissement doivent être trouvés. De plus, l’anisotropie interfaciale est très sensible aux propriétés structurelles et chimiques aux interfaces entre les métaux magnétiques et la barrière tunnel de MgO. Avec des techniques de nanofabrication conventionnelles, ces interfaces peuvent être endommagées durant notamment l’étape de gravure, ce qui conduit à une variabilité importante cellule à cellule. Pour résoudre ce genre de problèmes pour des cellules STT-MRAM de tailles très petites, nous proposons l’utilisation d’empilements jonctions tunnel magnétiques dans lesquels l’anisotropie de la couche de stockage est contrôlée uniquement par son anisotropie de forme hors du plan. Ceci donne notamment une couche de stockage de forme cylindrique avec un aspect de forme suffisamment large (épaisseur / diamètre environ > 1). De cette façon, pour des raisons purement magnétostatiques, l’aimantation de la couche de stockage sera orientée perpendiculairement au plan de la cellule. Dans cette approche, la géométrie planaire classique des couches minces est ainsi remplacée par une géométrie tridimensionnelle. Cette approche innovante a plusieurs avantages : (i) elle génère une source fiable et robuste d’anisotropie perpendiculaire, beaucoup moins sensible aux défauts de structure et aux fluctuations thermiques; (ii) permet d’utiliser des matériaux connus et facile à croître, avec des coefficients d’amortissement faible, comme le Permalloy, en combinaison avec du CoFeB aux interfaces avec la barrière tunnel de MgO et (iii) donne une approche miniaturisable, même à des diamètres sub-10 nm, car le même matériau peut être utilisé pour des nœuds technologiques très petits. / Most of the actual STT-MRAM development effort is nowadays focused on out-of-plane magnetized MTJ taking advantage of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) arising at magnetic metal/oxide interface. This interfacial anisotropy allows conciliating large anisotropy required to insure a sufficient retention of the memory together with low switching current density thanks to weak spin-orbit coupling. However this PMA is too weak to insure 10 year retention up to 100°C in sub-20 nm devices. For deeply sub-20 nm nodes, new materials with large bulk PMA and low damping still have to be found. Furthermore, because this PMA is an interfacial effect, it is very sensitive to the structural and chemical properties of the magnetic metal/MgO interfaces contributing to dot to dot variability. To solve these problems in very small feature size STT-MRAM, we propose a totally novel approach: use MTJ stacks in which the storage layer anisotropy is uniquely controlled by its out-of-plane shape anisotropy i.e. by giving the storage layer a cylindrical shape with large enough aspect ratio (thickness / diameter typically > 1). In such structure, for purely magnetostatic reasons, the storage layer magnetization lies out-of-plane. With this approach, the geometry of conventional 2D thin layers is thus replaced by a 3D geometry. This innovative approach had several advantages: (i) it creates a strong and robust source of perpendicular anisotropy, much less sensitive to interfacial defects and thermal fluctuations; (ii) allows the use of well-known materials with mastered growth and low magnetic damping, such as Permalloy in combination with FeCoB at the interface of the MgO tunnel barrier and (iii) yields to an extreme scalability of the memory point, down to the sub-10 nm node, as the same materials can be used at very low nodes.

Carbon forms the basis of a variety of compounds. The allotropic forms of carbon include graphene, fullerenes, graphite, carbon nanotubes and diamond. All these structures possess unique physical and chemical properties. This work focusses on the usage of carbon nanotubes (CNT), especially iron-filled CNT. An industrial application of CNT requires the understanding of the growth mechanism and the control of the synthesis process parameters. Regarding iron-filled CNT the shell formation as well as the filling process has to be understood in order to control the CNT morphology and distribution and dimension of the iron filling. The thesis involves two topics - synthesis of CNT and characterization of their mechanical properties. Chapter 2 of the present work deals with the synthesis of iron-filled CNT. In this thesis all experiments and the discussion about the growth process were conducted with respect to the demands of magnetic force microscopy probes. The experimental work was focused on the temperature profile of the furnace, the aluminum layer of the substrate, the precursor mass flow and their impact on the morphology of in-situ iron-filled CNT. By selecting appropriate process parameters for the temperature, sample position, gas flow and by controlling the precursor mass flow, CNT with a continuous filling of several microns in length were created. Existing growth models have been analyzed and controversially discussed in order to explain the formation of typical morphologies of in-situ filled CNT. In this work a modified growth model for the formation of in-situ filled CNT has been suggested. The combined-growth-mode model is capable to explain the experimental results. Experiments which were conducted with respect to the assumptions of this model, especially the role of the precursor mass flow, resulted in the formation of long and continuous iron nanowires encapsulated inside multi-walled CNT. The modified growth model and the synthesis results showed, that besides the complexity of the parameter interaction, a control of the morphology of in-situ iron-filled CNT is possible. In chapter 3 the measurements of mechanical properties of in-situ iron-filled CNT are presented. Two different experimental methods and setups were established, whereby one enabled a static bending measurement inside a TEM and another a dynamical excitation of flexural vibration of CNT inside SEM. For the first time mechanical properties and in particular the effective elastic modulus Eb of in-situ iron-filled CNT were determined based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam model (EBM). This continuum mechanic model can be applied to describe the mechanical properties of CNT and especially MWCNT in consideration of the restriction that CNT represent a macro molecular structure built of nested rolled-up graphene layers. For evaluation and determination of the elastic modulus the envelope of the resonant vibrating state was evaluated by fitting the EBM to the experimental data. The experiments also showed, that at the nanoscale the properties of sample attachment have to be taken into account. Thus, instead of a rigid boundary condition a torsion spring like behavior possessing a finite stiffness was used to model an one side clamped CNT. The extended data evaluation considering the elastic boundary conditions resulted in an average elastic modulus of Eb = 0.41 ± 0.11 TPa. The low standard deviation gives evidence for the homogeneity of the grown material. To some extend a correlation between the formation process, the morphology and the mechanical properties has been discussed. The obtained results prove the usability of this material as free standing tips for raster scanning microscopy and especially magnetic force microscopy. The developed methods provide the basis for further investigations of the CNT and the understanding of mechanical behavior in greater detail.

Iron filled carbon nanotubes (FeCNT) can be described as carbon nanotubes which contain an iron nanowire of several micrometers length and a diameter of approximately 10-100 nm. The carbon shells protect the iron core from oxidation and mechanical damage thus enabling a wide range of applications that require a long-term stability. The magnetic properties of the enclosed nanowire are in part determined by its small size and elongated shape. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) measurements show that the iron wire exhibits a single domain behavior. Due to the large shape anisotropy it is magnetized along the long wire axis in the remanent state. Two magnetic monopoles of opposing polarity are located at the wire extremities. Depending on the structure and geometry of the individual nanowire, switching fields in the range of 100-400 mT can be found when the external field is applied along the FeCNT’s easy axis. Cantilever magnetometry shows that the switching can be attributed to a thermally assisted magnetization reversal mechanism with the nucleation and propagation of a domain wall. The defined magnetic properties of individual FeCNT combined with their mechanical strength make them ideal candidates for an application as high resolution high stability MFM probes. The fabrication of such probes can be achieved with the help of a micromanipulation setup in a scanning electron microscope. FeCNT MFM probes achieve a sub 25 nm lateral magnetic resolution. MFM measurements with FeCNT MFM probes in external fields show that the magnetization of these probes is exceptionally stable compared to conventional coated MFM probes. This greatly simplifies the data evaluation of such applied field MFM measurements. The emphasis of this work was put on the calibration of FeCNT probes to enable straightforward quantitative MFM measurements. The defined shape of the magnetically active iron nanowire allows an application of a point monopole description. Microscale parallel current carrying lines that produce a defined magnetic field are used as calibration structures to determine the effective magnetic moment of different MFM probes. The line geometry is varied in order to produce multiple magnetic field decay lengths and investigate the influence on the effective probe moment. The results show that while the effective magnetic monopole moment of a conventional MFM probe increases with an increasing sample stray field decay length, the effective moment of a FeCNT MFM probe remains constant. This enables a MFM probe calibration that stays valid for a large variety of magnetic samples. Furthermore, the fitted monopole moment of a FeCNT probe (in the order of 10E-9 Am) is consistent with the moment calculated from the nanowire geometry and the saturation magnetization of iron.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-06-28T14:29:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 damiaodesousavieirajunior.pdf: 10265456 bytes, checksum: 8b1ceaeb4c4be0e91a46c2d30add7349 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-07T21:17:55Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 damiaodesousavieirajunior.pdf: 10265456 bytes, checksum: 8b1ceaeb4c4be0e91a46c2d30add7349 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-07T21:17:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 damiaodesousavieirajunior.pdf: 10265456 bytes, checksum: 8b1ceaeb4c4be0e91a46c2d30add7349 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-03 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O contínuo desenvolvimento das técnicas de fabricação de estruturas em escala nanométrica, com considerável precisão e reprodutibilidade, tem permitido e estimulado a investigação científica em torno das propriedades básicas e novas aplicações tecnológicas desses sistemas. Especialmente a partir dos anos 90, é crescente o interesse da comunidade científica no comportamento de sistemas magnéticos nano-estruturados. Nestes, a quebra da simetria espacial devido às pequenas dimensões faz com que exibam comportamentos completamente distintos dos observados em amostras macroscópicas. A anisotropia de forma resultante das interações clássicas entre os dipolos magnéticos permite a formação de estruturas magnéticas exóticas em nanomagnetos como vórtices, skyrmions, paredes de domínio individuais e, até mesmo, excitações topológicas similares a monopolos magnéticos. A compreensão e controle do comportamento magnético estático e dinâmico dessas estruturas é fundamental para o desenvolvimento de novos dispositivos tecnológicos baseados em spintrônica. Neste trabalho foram estudadas nanopartículas planares, alongadas na forma elíptica, de material ferromagnético macio, especificamente o Permalloy-79. Tais nanopartículas tem atraído atenção devido ao seu potencial de aplicação prática no desenvolvimento de novos sensores, dispositivos de lógica, mídias de armazenamento de dados de alta densidade e dispositivos MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory). Pelo viés do interesse científico básico, tais nano-ilhas ferromagnéticas são a unidade fundamental em arranjos magnéticos bidimensionais geometricamente frustrados, como sistemas de gelo de spin artificiais. Nestes sistemas o arranjo geométrico das ilhas quebra a degenerescência do estado fundamental da rede, caracterizando um estado de frustração geométrica que permite excitações de comportamento análogo ao de monopólos magnéticos. Sob tais aspectos, é essencial caracterizar as configurações magnéticas no estado fundamental e os processos de reversão da magnetização em nanopartículas individuais. A forma elíptica planar gera uma forte anisotropia magnética, definindo duas configurações fundamentais para a magnetização do estado fundamental das nanopartículas: o estado de vórtice ou o estado alinhado ao longo do maior eixo — estado tipo C. A partir de uma razão de aspecto limite, a magnetização do estado fundamental é confinada no plano e ao longo do eixo maior de cada nano ilha, definindo um nanomagneto monodomínio com dois estados degenerados de magnetização, útil às aplicações previamente descritas. Partindo desse intuito estudamos inicialmente, através de simulação por dinâmica de spin, a competição entre os estados de vórtice e os estados alinhados tipo C como uma função da forma de cada nano-ilha elíptica, construindo um diagrama de fases de estados vórtice - tipo C. Cada nanopartícula magnética é modelada por momentos magnéticos que interagem via interação de troca entre primeiros vizinhos e por interação dipolar clássica de longo alcance. Nossos resultados mostram que é possível fabricar nano-ilhas alongadas com estado fundamental alinhado tipo C em razões de aspecto menores que dois. Este é um resultado interessante do ponto de vista tecnológico, pois permite usar ilhas menores que as atuais em pesquisas com gelos de spin e MRAM. Geralmente, os arranjos experimentais são feitos com nanopartículas de razão de aspecto próximas a três para garantir o estado fundamental alinhado da magnetização. Acrescentando ao modelo um termo de interação Zeeman com um campo magnético externo, estudamos o comportamento da reversão da magnetização nas nanopartículas. Consideramos espessuras diferentes e duas razões de aspecto distintas: uma do tamanho experimental usual e outra menor proposta a partir de nossos resultados. Aplicando campo magnético senoidal em diferentes frequências e em direções distintas no plano das nanoilhas, observou-se a dependência dos processos de reversão em função da espessura das partículas e com a direção e frequência do campo aplicado. Os resultados permitem traçar linhas gerais acerca do comportamento da reversão da magnetização nas nanopartículas individuais sob campo magnético externo. Evidentemente para o desenvolvimento das possíveis aplicações tecnológicas, inclusive o controle de excitações como monopólos magnéticos em gelos de spin, é crucial entender os processos ultra rápidos de reversão da magnetização, o que envolve a aplicação de campo externo de alta frequência em direções cuidadosamente definidas. Com esse objetivo, também estudamos a reversão da magnetização nas nano-ilhas por pulsos curtos de campo magnético (da ordem de nanosegundos) aplicados em diferentes direções. Observamos uma forte dependência da coerência da reversão da magnetização com a direção do campo aplicado e uma significante diferença na dependência angular da coercividade em relação ao observado em trabalhos prévios para campos aplicados na condição quase-estática. Finalmente, baseado em nossos resultados, propomos um método para o controle da reversão coerente da magnetização de nanopartículas individuais em matrizes quadradas de gelos de spin artificiais. Acreditamos que nossos resultados poderão ser úteis no desenvolvimento ulterior de arranjos magnéticos artificiais geometricamente frustrados e no controle das excitações topológicas destes sistemas. / The continuous development of structures fabrication techniques at the nanometer scale with considerable precision and reproducibility has allowed and encouraged scientific research around the basic properties and new technological applications of these systems. Especially from the 90's, there is growing interest of the scientific community in the behavior of nanostructured magnetic systems. In these, the breaking of spatial symmetry due to small dimensionality causes quite different behaviors from those observed in the bulk. The resulting shape anisotropy of the classical interaction between magnetic dipoles allows the formation of exotic magnetic structures in nanomagnets as vortices, skyrmions, single domain walls and even topological excitations similar to magnetic monopoles. The understanding and control of static and dynamic magnetic behavior of these structures is essential for the development of new technological devices based on spintronics. In this work we studied planar elongated nanoparticles in the elliptical shape of soft ferromagnetic material, specifically the Permalloy-79. Such nanoparticles have attracted attention because of their potential to practical application in the development of new sensors, logic devices, high density data storage media and MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) devices. By the bias of basic scientific interest, such ferromagnetic nano-islands are the fundamental unit in two-dimensional magnetic arrangements geometrically frustrated as artificial spin ice systems. In these systems, the geometric arrangement of islands break the degeneracy of the network ground state featuring a state of geometrical frustration that allows excitations with analogous behavior of magnetic monopoles. Under these aspects, it is essential to characterize the magnetic configurations in the ground state and the magnetization reversal processes in individual nanoparticles. The elliptical planar shape generates a strong magnetic anisotropy which defines two basic configurations for the magnetization of the ground state of the nanoparticles: the vortex state or the aligned state along the major axis - type C state. As from an aspect ratio limit value, the magnetization of the ground state is confined in the plane and along the major axis of each nano-island defining mono-domain nanomagnet with two degenerate states of magnetization, useful for the applications previously described. Starting from this purpose we study initially, through simulation by spin dynamics, the competition between the vortex states and aligned type C states as a function of the shape of each elliptical nano-island to build a states diagram. Each magnetic nanoparticle is modeled by magnetic moments that interact by exchange interaction between nearest neighbors and by the classical long-range dipolar interaction. Our theoretical results indicate the possibility to manufacture elongated nano-islands with ground state like aligned C state for aspect ratios less than two. This is an interesting result from the technological point of view because it will be possible to use smaller islands in researches on spin ice and MRAM. Generally, the experimental arrangements are made with nanoparticles of aspect ratio close to three to ensure aligned magnetization in the ground state. Adding to the model a Zeeman interaction term between the magnetic moments and an external magnetic field we study the behavior of the magnetization reversal in nanoparticles. We consider different thickness and two different aspect ratios: one in the usual experimental size and a smaller proposed from our results. Applying sinusoidal magnetic field at different frequencies along the anisotropy axis in directions of ten and forty-five degrees from this, we observed the dependence of the reversal processes on the thickness of the particles and with the direction and frequency of the applied field. The results allow to establish general guidelines about the magnetization reversal behavior of the individual nanoparticles under external magnetic field. Evidently, for the development of possible technological applications, including the control of excitation like magnetic monopoles in spin ice, it is crucial to understand the ultrafast magnetization reversal processes which involves the application of high frequency magnetic fields in carefully defined directions. With this aim, we also studied the magnetization reversal of the nano-islands by short pulses of magnetic field (of the nanosecond order) applied in different directions. We observed a strong dependence on the coherence of the magnetization reversal with the direction of the applied field and a significant difference in the angular dependence of the coercivity compared to those seen in previous studies with applied magnetic fields in quasistatic conditions. Finally, based on our results we propose a method for the control of the coherent magnetization reversal of individual nanoparticles in square artificial spin ice arrays. We believe that our results may be useful in further developments of geometrically frustrated magnetic artificial arrangements and in the control of the topological excitations of these systems.

Carbon forms the basis of a variety of compounds. The allotropic forms of carbon include graphene, fullerenes, graphite, carbon nanotubes and diamond. All these structures possess unique physical and chemical properties. This work focusses on the usage of carbon nanotubes (CNT), especially iron-filled CNT. An industrial application of CNT requires the understanding of the growth mechanism and the control of the synthesis process parameters. Regarding iron-filled CNT the shell formation as well as the filling process has to be understood in order to control the CNT morphology and distribution and dimension of the iron filling. The thesis involves two topics - synthesis of CNT and characterization of their mechanical properties. Chapter 2 of the present work deals with the synthesis of iron-filled CNT. In this thesis all experiments and the discussion about the growth process were conducted with respect to the demands of magnetic force microscopy probes. The experimental work was focused on the temperature profile of the furnace, the aluminum layer of the substrate, the precursor mass flow and their impact on the morphology of in-situ iron-filled CNT. By selecting appropriate process parameters for the temperature, sample position, gas flow and by controlling the precursor mass flow, CNT with a continuous filling of several microns in length were created. Existing growth models have been analyzed and controversially discussed in order to explain the formation of typical morphologies of in-situ filled CNT. In this work a modified growth model for the formation of in-situ filled CNT has been suggested. The combined-growth-mode model is capable to explain the experimental results. Experiments which were conducted with respect to the assumptions of this model, especially the role of the precursor mass flow, resulted in the formation of long and continuous iron nanowires encapsulated inside multi-walled CNT. The modified growth model and the synthesis results showed, that besides the complexity of the parameter interaction, a control of the morphology of in-situ iron-filled CNT is possible. In chapter 3 the measurements of mechanical properties of in-situ iron-filled CNT are presented. Two different experimental methods and setups were established, whereby one enabled a static bending measurement inside a TEM and another a dynamical excitation of flexural vibration of CNT inside SEM. For the first time mechanical properties and in particular the effective elastic modulus Eb of in-situ iron-filled CNT were determined based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam model (EBM). This continuum mechanic model can be applied to describe the mechanical properties of CNT and especially MWCNT in consideration of the restriction that CNT represent a macro molecular structure built of nested rolled-up graphene layers. For evaluation and determination of the elastic modulus the envelope of the resonant vibrating state was evaluated by fitting the EBM to the experimental data. The experiments also showed, that at the nanoscale the properties of sample attachment have to be taken into account. Thus, instead of a rigid boundary condition a torsion spring like behavior possessing a finite stiffness was used to model an one side clamped CNT. The extended data evaluation considering the elastic boundary conditions resulted in an average elastic modulus of Eb = 0.41 ± 0.11 TPa. The low standard deviation gives evidence for the homogeneity of the grown material. To some extend a correlation between the formation process, the morphology and the mechanical properties has been discussed. The obtained results prove the usability of this material as free standing tips for raster scanning microscopy and especially magnetic force microscopy. The developed methods provide the basis for further investigations of the CNT and the understanding of mechanical behavior in greater detail.

Das Thema dieser Arbeit ist die Synthese von Ferromagnet-Halbleiter-Nanodraht-Strukturen in einer Kern-Hülle-Geometrie. Diese wird mittels Molekularstrahlepitaxie unter der Verwendung von GaAs und Fe3Si ausgeführt. Im Zentrum der Arbeit steht die Frage, ob sich mit derartigen Strukturen Magnetisierungen senkrecht zum Substrat realisieren lassen. Eine solche Konfiguration der Magnetisierung innerhalb bestimmter Strukturen ist wünschenswert, denn sie bildet die Grundlage einiger zukunftsweisender spintronischer Bauteilkonzepte. Aufgrund der Formanisotropie dünner Schichten ist diese Konfiguration der Magnetisierung in planaren Strukturen nur mit erheblichem Aufwand zu bewerkstelligen. Bildet sich hingegen in den Nanodraht-Hüllen eine Stabmagnetisierung aus, so führt dies direkt zur gewünschten senkrechten Magnetisierung. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wird der Epitaxie-Prozess vorgestellt. Abhängig von den Wachstumsparametern können Hüllen mit glatten Seitenflachen, einer hohen Kristallordnung, ebenen Grenzflachen zum GaAs-Kern und epitaktischer Ausrichtung realisiert werden. Der zweite Teil behandelt die magnetischen Eigenschaften der Nanodrahte. Ensemble-Charakterisierungen sind hierbei in diesem Fall nicht geeignet. Einzeldraht-Messungen hingegen zeigen, dass sich in den Nanodraht-Hüllen wie erhofft eine Stabmagnetisierung ausbildet. Der dritte und letzte Teil dieser Dissertation umfasst die Einführung mehrerer zukunftsweisender Bauteilkonzepte, basierend auf den speziellen magnetischen Eigenschaften der hier vorgestellten Nanodrahte. Dazu gehören dreidimensionale Speicherarchitekturen mit bislang unerreichten Speicherkapazitäten und zirkular polarisiertes Licht emittierende Leuchtdioden für einen enorm schnellen Spininformations-Transfer zur Intrachip-Kommunikation. / The subject of the present work is the synthesis of ferromagnet-semiconductor coreshell nanowires. To realize such structures molecular beam epitaxy has been employed. For the investigation the well-suited materials systems GaAs and Fe3Si are used. Within the framework of this thesis the open question whether a magnetization in the nanowires that is perpendicular to the nanowire’s substrate can be realized is of special interest. Such a configuration of the magnetization is desirable, because some spintronic device concepts rely on magnetizations perpendicular to the substrate. In general, with the exception of very limited and highly specific materials, the shape anisotropy of thin magnetic layers causes the magnetic moments to orient along an in-plane direction and therefore, perpendicular configurations of the magnetization do not occur at equilibrium conditions. In contrast, magnetic nanowires with moments pointing along the wire axis directly provide the desired out-of plane magnetization. In the first part, the epitaxial procedure to realize the core-shell nanowires is described. Nanowires with smooth side walls, smooth interface to the GaAs core, a fairly high structural ordering and an epitaxial orientation relationship are produced. In the second part, the magnetic properties of the core-shell nanowires are analyzed. It is shown that characterizations of an ensemble of wires cannot resolve magnetic properties of the shells. Investigations on single nanowires however revealed that the magnetization in the shells is indeed as desired oriented along the wires. Several innovative device concepts based on the specific magnetic properties of these core-shell nanowires are finally introduced in the third part of this work. Within these concepts three-dimensional magnetic recording devices with unsurpassed data storage capacities and circular polarized light emitting diodes for tremendously fast spin information transfer for intrachip communication can be realized.

Iron filled carbon nanotubes (FeCNT) can be described as carbon nanotubes which contain an iron nanowire of several micrometers length and a diameter of approximately 10-100 nm. The carbon shells protect the iron core from oxidation and mechanical damage thus enabling a wide range of applications that require a long-term stability. The magnetic properties of the enclosed nanowire are in part determined by its small size and elongated shape. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) measurements show that the iron wire exhibits a single domain behavior. Due to the large shape anisotropy it is magnetized along the long wire axis in the remanent state. Two magnetic monopoles of opposing polarity are located at the wire extremities. Depending on the structure and geometry of the individual nanowire, switching fields in the range of 100-400 mT can be found when the external field is applied along the FeCNT’s easy axis. Cantilever magnetometry shows that the switching can be attributed to a thermally assisted magnetization reversal mechanism with the nucleation and propagation of a domain wall. The defined magnetic properties of individual FeCNT combined with their mechanical strength make them ideal candidates for an application as high resolution high stability MFM probes. The fabrication of such probes can be achieved with the help of a micromanipulation setup in a scanning electron microscope. FeCNT MFM probes achieve a sub 25 nm lateral magnetic resolution. MFM measurements with FeCNT MFM probes in external fields show that the magnetization of these probes is exceptionally stable compared to conventional coated MFM probes. This greatly simplifies the data evaluation of such applied field MFM measurements. The emphasis of this work was put on the calibration of FeCNT probes to enable straightforward quantitative MFM measurements. The defined shape of the magnetically active iron nanowire allows an application of a point monopole description. Microscale parallel current carrying lines that produce a defined magnetic field are used as calibration structures to determine the effective magnetic moment of different MFM probes. The line geometry is varied in order to produce multiple magnetic field decay lengths and investigate the influence on the effective probe moment. The results show that while the effective magnetic monopole moment of a conventional MFM probe increases with an increasing sample stray field decay length, the effective moment of a FeCNT MFM probe remains constant. This enables a MFM probe calibration that stays valid for a large variety of magnetic samples. Furthermore, the fitted monopole moment of a FeCNT probe (in the order of 10E-9 Am) is consistent with the moment calculated from the nanowire geometry and the saturation magnetization of iron.