title: Progressive freezing of interacting spins in isolated finite magnetic ensembles.
abstract: Self-organization of magnetic nanoparticles into secondary nanostructures provides an innovative way for designing functional nanomaterials with novel properties, different from the constituent primary nanoparticles as well as their bulk counterparts. Collective magnetic properties of such complex closed packing of magnetic nanoparticles makes them more appealing than the individual magnetic nanoparticles in many technological applications. This work reports the collective magnetic behaviour of magnetic ensembles comprising of single domain Fe3O4nanoparticles. The present work reveals that the ensemble formation is based on the re-orientation and attachment of the nanoparticles in an iso-oriented fashion at the mesoscale regime. Comprehensive dc magnetic measurements show the prevalence of strong interparticle interactions in the ensembles. Due to the close range organization of primary Fe3O4nanoparticles in the ensemble, the spins of the individual nanoparticles interact through dipolar interactions as realized from remnant magnetization measurements. Signature of super spin glass like behaviour in the ensembles is observed in the memory studies carried out in field cooled conditions. Progressive freezing of spins in the ensembles is corroborated from the Vogel-Fulcher fit of the susceptibility data. Dynamic scaling of relaxation reasserted slow spin dynamics substantiating cluster spin glass like behaviour in the ensembles.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Functional Materials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Tezpur University (Central University), Napaam 784028, Assam, India. Institut Lumière Matière ILM-UMR 5306, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne F 69622, France.
authors.forename: Kakoli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dupuis
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Le-Roy
authors.forename: Pritam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deb