Thermal fluctuations of magnetic nanoparticles

William T. Coffey, Yuri P. Kalmykov

Published 2012-09-03, updated 2014-04-03Version 4

The reversal time (superparamagnetic relaxation time) of the magnetization of fine single domain ferromagnetic nanoparticles owing to thermal fluctuations plays a fundamental role in information storage, paleomagnetism, biotechnology, etc. Here a comprehensive tutorial-style review of the achievements of fifty years of development and generalizations of the seminal work of Brown [W.F. Brown, Jr., Phys. Rev., 130, 1677 (1963)] on thermal fluctuations of magnetic nanoparticles is presented. Analytical as well as numerical approaches to the estimation of the damping and temperature dependence of the reversal time based on Brown's Fokker-Planck equation for the evolution of the magnetic moment orientations on the surface of the unit sphere are critically discussed while the most promising directions for future research are emphasized.