Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T09156/01
Title:	Computational Modelling of Three-Dimensional Magnetic Nanostructures
Principal Investigator:	Fangohr, Professor H
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Faculty of Engineering & the Environment
Organisation:	University of Southampton
Scheme:	First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC
Starts:	01 May 2005	Ends:	31 October 2007	Value (£):	123,404
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Materials Characterisation
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Magnetic materials on the submicron scale are widely used in data storage and sensors, and magnetic materials on the nanoscale have the potential to deliver scientific and technological advances that will affect UK competitiveness for decades to come. The ability to predict and optimise the properties of magnetic nanostructures will depend more than ever before on computational modelling due to the small length scales over which their features vary. While two-dimensional systems such as flat films can be simulated quite routinely using standard PCs, dedicated parallel programs have to be developed and used to simulate three-dimensional systems.Industrial requirements to further increase the information density in magnetic media storage have to be addressed by new technologies, one of these being patterned media. Patterned media generated by self-assembly techniques are intrinsically three-dimensional due to the production process that often involves spherical objects. The shape and topology of these structures plays a crucial role in their magnetic behaviour.We will therefore implement a state-of-the art micromagnetic simulation suite which is based on the finite element method and can execute on parallel computational resources such as the 500 CPU Linux cluster of the University of Southampton. We will include the simulation of thermal fluctuations as well as periodic boundary conditions to be able to realistically simulate connected networks and periodic structures.We will immediately apply the tool and investigate the three-dimensional patterned media nanostructures that are currently being fabricated and studied by our experimental collaborators at Southampton, in order to reveal the underlying physics of magnetisation reversal, vortex nucleation, thermal stability and switching times. By combining experimental and simulated results and by evaluating and optimising new designs before they enter the fabrication cycle, we will reduce the development time and cost for new functional materials.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:	http://nmag.soton.ac.uk
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.soton.ac.uk