Features of the quasi-static and dynamic magnetization switching in NiO nanoparticles: Manifestation of the interaction between magnetic subsystems in antiferromagnetic nanoparticles

We report on the investigations of a system of 8-nm NiO particles representing antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials, which are weak magnetic in the form of submicron particles, but can be considered to be magnetoactive in the form of nanoparticles due to the formation of the uncompensated magnetic moment in them. The regularities of the behavior of magnetization switching in AFM nanoparticles are established by studying the magnetic hysteresis loops under standard quasi-static conditions and in a quasi-sinusoidal pulsed field of up to 130 kOe with pulse lengths of 4–16 ms. The magnetic hysteresis loops are characterized by the strong fields of the irreversible magnetization behavior, which is especially pronounced upon pulsed field-induced magnetization switching. Under the pulsed field-induced magnetization switching conditions, which are analogous to the dynamic magnetic hysteresis, the coercivity increases with an increase in the maximum applied field H0 and a decrease in the pulse length. This behavior is explained by considering the flipping of magnetic moments of particles in an external ac magnetic field; however, in contrast to the case of single-domain ferro- and ferrimagnetic particles, the external field variation rate dH/dt is not a universal parameter uniquely determining the coercivity. At the dynamic magnetization switching in AFM nanoparticles, the H0 value plays a much more important role. The results obtained are indicative of the complex dynamics of the interaction between magnetic subsystems formed in AFM nanoparticles.