ABSTRACT
We provide the first quantitative comparison between Barkhausen noise experiments and recent predictions from the theory of avalanches for pinned interfaces, both in and beyond mean field. We study different classes of soft magnetic materials, including polycrystals and amorphous samples-which are characterized by long-range and short-range elasticity, respectively-both for thick and thin samples, i.e., with and without eddy currents. The temporal avalanche shape at fixed size as well as observables related to the joint distribution of sizes and durations are analyzed in detail. Both long-range and short-range samples with no eddy currents are fitted extremely well by the theoretical predictions. In particular, the short-range samples provide the first reliable test of the theory beyond mean field. The thick samples show systematic deviations from the scaling theory, providing unambiguous signatures for the presence of eddy currents.
ABSTRACT
We investigate the statistical properties of the Barkhausen noise in amorphous ferromagnetic films with thicknesses in the range between 100 and 1000 nm. From Barkhausen noise time series measured with the traditional inductive technique, we perform a wide statistical analysis and establish the scaling exponents τ,α,1/σνz, and Ï. We also focus on the average shape of the avalanches, which gives further indications on the domain-wall dynamics. Based on experimental results, we group the amorphous films in a single universality class, characterized by scaling exponents τ=1.28±0.02,α=1.52±0.3, and 1/σνz=Ï=1.83±0.03, values compatible with that obtained for several bulk amorphous magnetic materials. Besides, we verify that the avalanche shape depends on the universality class. By considering the theoretical models for the dynamics of a ferromagnetic domain wall driven by an external magnetic field through a disordered medium found in literature, we interpret the results and identify an experimental evidence that these amorphous films, within this thickness range, present a typical three-dimensional magnetic behavior with predominant short-range elastic interactions governing the domain-wall dynamics. Moreover, we provide experimental support for the validity of a general scaling form for the average avalanche shape for non-mean-field systems.
Subject(s)
Magnets , Models, Statistical , Elasticity , Magnetic FieldsABSTRACT
We investigate the scaling properties of the Barkhausen effect by recording the noise in several soft ferromagnetic materials: polycrystals with different grain sizes and amorphous alloys. We measure the Barkhausen avalanche distributions and determine the scaling exponents. In the limit of vanishing external field rate, we can group the samples in two distinct classes, characterized by exponents tau = 1.50+/-0.05 or tau = 1.27+/-0.03, for the avalanche size distributions. We interpret these results in terms of the depinning transition of domain walls and obtain an expression relating the cutoff of the distributions to the demagnetizing factor which is in quantitative agreement with experiments.
